


And everything came crashing down

by chamiryokuroi



Category: Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Bad Blood DLC never happened here, Gen, Minor Character Death, Not Beta Read, Sorry bedbug you need to go, T-Bone mentioned, mayor character death kind of, more characters to add as story moves on, non realistic description of hacking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-08-08 21:20:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 47,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7773802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chamiryokuroi/pseuds/chamiryokuroi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there is something Aiden should have learned from the mess with Lucky Quinn and DedSec is that he should try and keep his nose out of things that have nothing to do with him.</p>
<p>He has never been able to do as much.</p>
<p>Aiden thought his life couldn't get worst, no family, no friends, living day by day, until an old enemy comes back, and he finds himself neck deep into a fight that doesn't even sound real. Seriously, how is this his life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 01100010 01100001 01100011 01101011

**Author's Note:**

> As you can see I am not good with titles.  
> Second time trying my hand at writing a fic and first time uploading something to AO3, yay.  
> Things to take into account before you start reading this, I tried as best as I could to make it possible for people to read this even if they are not familiar with one of the two fandoms this story is based on. Story mostly follows Aiden, Desmond has a main role in it yes, but I wanted Aiden just reacting to everything Assassin Creed based and freaking the fuck out. I tried to keep this as canon as possible, I have not read as many wikis in my life as I did in the last few weeks, please be patient if I miss anything, I am trying to base this in two completely different universes to mix them in a realistical way.  
> There is no shipping on this fic, there might be mentions of pass canon relationshipt but no shipping happens, trust me I was tempted to do it, my heart was telling me to make Aiden and Des to get together but ultimately I went against it because I like fics that have more to do with story that two characters fucking, and this story is mostly for myself, since the fandom cannnot be dignified to make anything based on these two amazing characters together (Everyone always acts as if Desmond didn't exists and I am pretty sure no one remembers awkward uncle Aiden).  
> Feel free to critic this, to point out mistakes or try and figure where this is going.  
> I already have the whole story planned out, I am sure at one point or another people will hate me, slightly, I am not good with cliffhangers and such.  
> For everyone that might now me from tumblr, and for everyone who decided to click on this, please enjoy.

_“All this time you have been lying to me, hiding the truth that would have made this whole thing make sense, why?”_

_“You were never supp to know, it would have been better that you had never found out.”_

_“But I did, and now you will answer me. What are the Templars? What are the Assassins? No, just answer this, why have you pulled me into this whole mess?”_

_“Because I had no other option.”_

-

“Good Morning Chicago! Today we start with some great news. Abstergo Entertainment has finally opened their new base of operations in our beautiful city. This new branch of the world wide renowned video game developer company will be located in what once was the Merlaut hotel.”

“To refresh our viewers minds, after Dermot “Lucky” Quinn death last year, his son, Niall Quinn, took over the family business, but he was unable to keep the company's reputation up after it got revealed by an anonymous source all the black markets deals Mr. Quinn senior had been part of, inevitably the grand hotel was put on sale. It appears that Abstergo Entertainment acquired the building shortly after and started renovations immediately.”

“It was not clear, at the time, what it would be used for, but finally it has been revealed that it will be the home of the newest research facility for their Helix console. We are proud that they have chosen our city for such an honor. More information later as we interview Abstergo's CCO, Melanie Lemay.”

“On a different note The Vigilante, Aiden Pearce, has been seen hard at work keeping our streets safe. From bank robbers to abuse cases, he has been sighted all around the city. The police Chief, though grateful for the help, would like to remind Mr. Pearce that he should be leaving the field work to the authorities, instead he is welcome to help by sharing information. We have not been able to get close enough to Mr. Pearce to know his response to this, but one thing is sure, legal or not, Chicago can sleep safe in the knowledge that someone out there is looking out for us.”

-

“The fuck is your problem man! Leave me alone!”

The vigilante kept close to his target, jumping over turned trash cans and pushing people out of his way as he chased the man down the crowded streets of Parker Square, baton ready at hand.

“Look dude, It's The Vigilante!” a young man screamed from the bus stop on the other side of the street, eyes blow wide and a smile on his face, shaking his friend and pointing at the ongoing chase.

“Go get him man!” another teenager screamed, while pulling out his phone to record what was happening. Some of the people standing around stopped for a second to look at what was going on, a few of them joining on the screams of support.

Aiden didn’t waste time looking at them, his sight was trained on the man he had been chasing for the last minutes. If only he could get close enough to bring him down. As he turned into an alley he saw his opportunity and took out his profiler. A few feet in front of him the criminal keep on running, head turning back each other step to see if he had, by any luck, managed to lose him.

Mentally counting down the seconds Aiden dropped to a crouch and hid behind a box as he activated the hack on his screen and the transformer in the path of the criminal exploded, finally taking him down. The smell of burnt plastic filled the place as he stepped out of his hiding spot; kneeling to check for vitals and letting out a sigh of relief once he found a pulse. Killing just couldn't be avoided some times, but he tried to tone it done whenever possible.

He left the alley once the police was informed. As he walked away, turning down the street on route to the Owl Motel, he could hear the sirens getting closer. He didn’t run away as he would had a year ago, these days there was close to no reason to fear the police.

As he walked his eyes scanned the crowd around him. A guy down the street with his phone out got his attention, he slowed down as he passed by him, with a tap on his profiler he took what he needed. Based on the bank account information, the guy wouldn’t notice a few bucks missing.

His steps faltered as he crossed an alley and saw a man bullied by some thugs, but decided not to involve himself. He was too tired to attempt anything.

It had been close to one year of him running around, saving people, fighting criminals, doing the same thing over and over without any real impact. For each abusive case he punished another hit was given somewhere, for each gang he brought down a new one took its place. Some days he would wake up feeling the pressure of his role as The Vigilante crushing him. Did it matter? Would anyone care if he stopped? No matter how much he fought, the city was still full of the same filth.

And yet each day he would wake up ready to try again.

A year ago, when this whole mess had started, he had a goal. He needed to avenge his niece, who had been killed as collateral damage of a bullet meant for him, take down the bastard that had destroyed the young life, then go home and take care of what was left of his family. Just his rotten luck that along the way he found himself neck deep on the depravity and violence of the City.

He took more that he was ready to handle, yet, somehow, came on top at the end. He became, without even trying, a hero for the people, forged out of the rage and pain of a lonely man set on revenge.

A grey hat hacker turned hero, what a joke.

At least something good had come out of it. With Lucky Quinn's death, the mob boss of the city and head of the black market, the many problems surrounding the city came out to the light. At last the people knew their streets were bathed in blood by those who had promised to protect them.

As he crossed the street he looked up at what once was one of the CtOS towers, an outdated piece of technology looming over the citizens of Chicago.

Blume corporation, the once world's foremost innovator of high-tech, high-performance communications and security technology, had crashed down once all the corruption behind their doors had been published. In the time it took for the news to report it everyone learned that their network was not secure, that all their information had been used to control them, to guide them as pawns on a chess board, and they were understandably mad, demanding answers that would never come.

Inevitably the corporation could not continue working, with all the questions made that they could not answer, all the demands and anger of the population, private and public contracts broken, research founds frozen and popularity dropping, ultimately it went bankrupt and closed its doors. The last hit being the release to all the mayor News channels of the video of Donovan Rushmore, back then city Mayor and Quinn's lap dog, murdering Rose Washington, and the Security company's involvement on it.

Thinking about how easy it had been to bring down Blume left a bitter taste on his mouth, it had been weeks of him fighting for his life and all it took was one video to set aflame the anger of the whole city to bring the company down. The power of people was something to fear, no wonder they had tried to control them. They almost did it. Well... with most of them.

As he nearer his destination he walked by one of the 24/7 stores, it's wall covered in graffiti, between the gang logos and political propaganda, right in the center of it all, a skull stood up from everything else.

DedSec, the not so secret society of hackers, serving their own brand of justice. They had never gotten over Aiden not allowing them to hack into the CtOS servers, and they became a torn in his side since then, sending fixers his way, trying to get information to blackmail him, even attempting to bring him to their side.

He had never really cared about them. Their ideals were not that far from his own, but their way of making those a reality is what made him stay as far away from them as humanly possible. Declaring a digital war upon Blume and the citizens of Chicago did not help them get in his good side either.

Lately they had been quiet, almost no news of them had been heard around the city. He suspected it had to do with them not having any big enemy to fight, there were only so many corrupt politicians you could bring to light before it got boring and the News stopped caring to report them.

The Owl Motel greeted him with its bright neon lights, he hurried up the stairs ignoring the few people still out. The sounds and lights of the city blocked once he closed the door of his room, giving him a brief sense of safety.

The Motel could not be considered one of the best of the city for a long shot, with its old beds with lumpy mattress and stains he did not want to guess where had come from, a cheap desk pushed away from the wall and to the middle of the room. Enough space left free so he could put up any information he had of his target at the moment on the wall, notes and pictures filling the space next to a map of the city, trash here and there he couldn’t bother to pick up and hardware parts tossed haphazardly so he could look at them later, even if he never did.

It was the less welcoming sight, and the closest thing he had to a home.

It was a miracle that the place had not closed up after the explosion Aiden had triggered on his previous room last year. Some might have called it stupid to set another hideout on the same place, but didn't someone once say that the best place to hide was in plain sight?

It had been a long day, two robbers down, one black market deal taken care of, a fixer contract gone wrong and a race against the police leaving him tired and aching from pains he would never take care of, all he wanted to do was take a shower, get on the bed and sleep for as long as possible.

Sadly the universe had it against him. His profiler rang with an incoming call.

Groaning he connected it without checking the name. “What?” pushing out the wall he walked to his desk, taking out his jacket and tossing it to the side.

“What kind of greeting is that for an old friend?” he stopped for a second before sitting down and turning on his computer, wanting to check if there was any new fixer contract, and to distract himself from this call he did not want to have.

“Jordi?” he had not heard from the fixer since... well, since Jordi had pointed a gun at his head. And to think that at one point back during the whole Blume incident they had been, if not friends, a team. Jordi, probably the best fixer in the city, would point him in the right direction to get the best contracts, as well as providing him guns, cars and explosives at the best price. For a while he had thought he could trust him, but it just proved to be a mistake when, after all had went to shit, the fixer had not even stopped for a second before deciding that it was on his best interest to betray Aiden, all of it for the right price.

Money truly makes the world go round.

“Glad to know you had not forgotten my name. So, how is The Vigilante doing these days? Fighting crime? Saving kittens from trees? Helping grandmas cross the street?” he could almost hear the smile on the voice of the Asian man, it just made him want to hang up.

“What do you want?” he did not have time for this, whatever Jordi wanted he could damn well get it himself, he did not owe him anything.

“Aww come on! you're not still angry about what happened a year ago are you?” something sounding quite similar to an industrial blender came from the other side of the call, he had a flashback of an ice cream truck, a freezer and a bloody hand poking out of it, with Jordi smiling proudly standing next to it, with a shiver he tried not to think about that sound too much, he was sure whatever was in that blender most likely did not include any actual food.

“Last time I saw you, there was a gun pointed at my head.” call him petty, but he would not let it go for a while longer. This was not what he needed today, a bad day turning worse with one stupid call.

“Yeah but like I said back then, it was not personal, and being serious Aiden, I like you, a lot, you are that weird uncle I never had.” yeah, that was definitely a smile he heard on Jordi's voice.

“Please stop trying to make small talk and just tell me why you called.” _so I can tell you to fuck off and go to sleep as I had planned_ , he thought while pushing back the chair and standing up once again. Nothing new on his network, just his luck.

“Well the reason... let's call it favor.” that made him stop, the phone creaking by how tight he was holding it.

“Do you really think that after everything I would do anything for you?” why did he have to pick up the call, he should have let it go to voice-mail. After everything, Jordi still had the gall to call and ask him for a favor.

“Oh no, no, no. this is not a favor for me, but you. I am doing this to help you Aiden,” He almost laughed at absurdity of it “take it as me saying sorry for almost blowing your head that one time.”

“I don't buy it.” there was more to it, there is always more to it.

“You don't have to, but why I am doing this is none of your concern. Look, what should matter is that I have something for you, information that I know matters to you and your little Vigilante work, it is the kind of information many would pay a fortune to know. And here I am giving it away to you, because I like you, and I feel kind of bad for almost killing you, a little bit.”

“I should just track you down Jordi, pay you back for that.”

“Yeah you could, but you won’t. Want to know why?” he didn't really, but that would not stop Jordi from saying it anyway “Because you are not a vengeful person? I know what you did with Maurice, or what you didn't do to be more precise, you had the man responsible for your niece's death, the man who, unknowingly, was the reason you had to fight for so long and became the Vigilante, and yet you could not end it. You had him tied up and ready for you to take the shoot and you couldn’t pull the trigger. Truly the hero we all need, so full of forgiveness.”

Kicking out his shoes he fell down on the bed, the bright light of the lamp over it hurting his eyes “Just tell me why you called.”

“Fine, be that way. Something is going to happen soon, something big. But the details are not free,” of course they were not “I have a new job for you, something simple I know you can do without any problem, I would do it myself but I am kind of busy at the moment.” the sound of the industrial blender got lost behind of something that sounds a lot like a chainsaw, definitely not asking what was going on over there.

“Wasn't it supposed to be a favor?”

“Oh but it is, I just thought of making it a bit more interesting you know, for old times' sake. But this information is worth it.”

“And if it isn't”

Jordi's laugh was loud and short “Then feel free to track me down and let all your anger out on me my friend” A minute passed of silence while he thought about it, did he really want to take whatever job Jordi has? Wasn't he complaining before that his life had become boring and repetitive, maybe this is what he was missing, a bit of excitement.

“Fine, what's the job?”

-

The next day Aiden found himself at a coffee shop on Mad Mile, drinking an overpriced cup of black coffee and checking his profiler for any last minute change to the plan. He looked up at the apartment complex crossing the street. According to the data his target was on the thirteenth floor. There was no way to access from the outside aside from the main door unless he had the security codes, and he didn't. The building was relatively new, all security systems upgraded just a few months back, right after the whole Blume fiasco, so no easy access to the security feed from the outside either.

He took another sip of his coffee and looked down at the data on his profiler. A picture of a white man on a suit like many other white collar workers stared back at him, followed by a short resume of his life. Good family background, Business Mayor from a quality college, married with one child, and recently became vice president of one of the biggest News channels of the city.

The fixer contract was retrieval, his target not the man himself but information he had received once he became vice president, a series of mails stored on his personal laptop. It was never left alone for long, his only chance was to get it is while the man is at home and the laptop on the personal office on the apartment.

Tossing the empty paper cup on the trash Aiden made his way across the street, checking one last time his disguise on the mirror walls of the building. Gone were the jacket and hat that everyone in the city could recognize, instead he was wearing a plain pair of jeans and off brand shirt. With his face shaved and hair brushed back no one had been able to recognize him, while just yesterday he couldn't walk down the street without someone screaming his name and asking for a picture.

He climbed up the few steps to the front door, feeling vulnerable without his guns and explosives, the price to pay for anonymity, he only had a P-9mm hidden under his jeans, it was, without a doubt, the worst weapon he owned, but the smallest and easiest to hide. If everything goes according to plan he will not need to use it.

As he walks inside the building he does not look up, eyes fixed on his profiler and fingers tapping away at the screen. It had been one of the first things he learned when he started working as a fixer, back on his young days, act as normal as possible, do not give anyone any reason to look at you, to doubt you, to remember you, be just another face in a crowd.

Only once did he take his eyes out of his screen, looking at the receptionist and confirming she was still concentrated on her own phone. As he walked by her desk he activated the invading software from his profiler, connecting remotely to the desk computer in front of the receptionist, getting access to the security system of the building. Sometimes it made him want to laugh at how easy it was to get access to everything, he should be glad no system could compare to Blume, it made his work a walk in the park.

The finger print activated elevator opened with a single tap on his profiler, he did not hack the security cameras, a year back he would have a software installed to hide his face and make him unrecognizable, but now without CtOS and its constant monitoring of everyone in the city there was no way anyone would immediately know who he was or what he was up to just by scanning his face.

Stepping out of the elevator he walked down the aisle to the door marked as apartment 25 and keep going on without looking at it, instead he got into the emergency stairs and closed the door. Time for the fun part.

With his recently acquired access to the security cameras on his profiler he opened the feed of the apartment, sitting on the living room was the vice-president, a quick check on the other rooms confirmed that the laptop was where he had been told and that the family was not at home at this hour. Great news, the less people he has to deal with the better.

He made a call to the lobby, as it connected a secondary app started to run in the background, one of the latest modification done to his profiler.

“New Horizon apartments, Good day. How may I help you?” the receptionist voice was full of that face niceness necessary for her position.

“Morning, I am calling to ask when am I supposed to present myself to work? I got hired last week but haven't got any information. My name is Joe Smith”

“Wait a moment please” the sound of tapping came from her side “Sorry sir but we don't seem to have your name on our registry”

The processing bar was almost done, he needed to keep her talking just a bit longer “Are you sure? Can you check again?”

“I am sure Sir. Maybe you could contact the contractor? If you have been hired as you say then there might be a problem with our systems” finally a soft ping signaled the app was done processing the voice.

“Yeah, will do that, thank you”

“You're welcome sir, have a nice day” he hanged up before she was done talking and raised the phone to his lips. The voice modifier installed processed his voice and replayed his message with a more feminine tone. He cringed at the voice being slightly off from the one of the receptionist, the software still needed some work before it would be perfect, he needs to remember that for later, but it'll work for now.

“Hello?” the voice of the man inside the apartment greeted him from the other side of the call.

“Good day sir” he tried to imitate the cheerfulness of the girl, his profiler delivering the message in the voice of the receptionist “I am sorry to interrupt you at home, but we have a parcel with your name at reception and we currently are short on staff to bring it up to you, could you please come the the lobby for it, if it is not too much of a bother?”

“I don’t remember been waiting for anything, but sure I'll be there shortly”

“Thank you sir!” through the feed of the apartment he could see the man stand up and leave. Once he saw the man get in the elevator Aiden opened the stairs doors and walked to the apartment 25. He smiled down at the electronic lock on the door. _So easy._

He had maybe 8 minutes before the vice president arrived at the reception, asked for a parcel that did not exist, demanded the explanation of the call, learned the girl had not done it, and, if he was smart enough, suspect a trap. He walked pass the luxurious living room, taking a left at the kitchen and opening the door to the office. Without a second to waste he sat down at the desk, turning ON the laptop and connecting his profiler through an USB port. The password secure device did not pose any challenge to him.

6 minutes to go

With a final click the laptop unlocked. He was greeted with a desktop background of the happy family, how cliché. Jordi’s client had provided a certain encryption pattern. He only needed to find anything that matched said pattern. Ignoring business plans and personal mails, he focused on the usual places where someone would keep this kind of stuff _hidden._ Folders named as family photos, classic music, and such, he also checked on the program files.

4 minutes left.

Finally he found a series of documents encrypted with the right pattern, copying them into his external drive he stood up ready to get the hell out of there.

Everything was going according to plan. So of course something had to go wrong in that moment.

As he took the first steep out of the apartment the elevator doors opened, two armed guards coming out of it and stopping as they noticed Aiden. The screams to “Stop right there, hands in the air don’t move” did nothing to stop him from bolting in the opposite way of the elevator. He kicked open the service stairs as the first shoot resonated on the empty hallway, there was no pain so he did not stop once before running down the stairs, pulling out his P-9mm, switching off the safety and holding it tightly at his side.

“He's going down! Hurry!”

Jumping each other step he moved fast, trying not to trip with his own feet. The security guards followed close by, their steps loud behind him. There were no more shoots, the space too small to even attempt and aim at him.

So his plan had gone down the drain, what options did he have left? He could try and get to the ground floor and outrun them, but what if they had more guards waiting for him there? Then again it wouldn’t be long before they called the police, without a car there's no way he will be able to get away alive. Maybe he could get to the second floor or as close to the bottom as possible and jump out of a window.

He didn’t really had the option to choose, as he passed the sixth floor he noticed sound coming from downstairs, risking looking over the railing he managed to see two more guards coming up.

“Fuck!”

He was surrounded, outnumbered and, to make things worse, he had no bombs to deal with them, no hack to distract, he should not have come so unarmed. He had greatly underestimated this job.

Backtracking to the previous rest on the stairs he stepped out in the sixth floor, closing the door and holding it close with his baton. It wouldn’t hold for long, barely enough for the elevator doors to start closing and 4 guns aimed his way, in one second he dropped to the floor, rolling to the side and making himself as small as possible as the shoots rained over where he had been standing, he didn’t move until the doors finally closed with a ping. _I am getting old_. He thought as he leaned on the wall and tried to calm down his breathing. The elevator music was as annoying as ever as he thought of how the heck was he going to get out of here, he had the data needed, but what good was it if he died here.

How many security guards could this building have? There had been 4 behind him, more than enough for the size of the building, but the high society people who lived here would pay extra for the best security available without it being intrusive, so most likely there were at least 4 more guards waiting downstairs. He glared at the gun on his hand, only 9 shoots and nowhere near strong enough to penetrate the Kevlar protected guards.

He has to outrun them, there was no option left, at least there is no way they know who he is, if he can just lost them they will never find it was The Vigilante who had been here. Decision taken he stood up and modified the destination of the elevator with his profiler, he was scrambling out as soon as the doors had opened enough for him to fit through, standing on the well-lit basement he moved between the lines of parked cars, it wouldn't be long before the guard would come rushing down, guns ready. He needed something fast, something that would be hard to follow.

He was going through the second line of cars when the stair doors where kicked open and 10 armed men ran inside, guns pointing forward. Aiden barely had enough time to hide behind a pillar before as the bullets started to rain down on him, then it was a matter of staying out of shooting range. He tried to shoot back, just to almost get his head shot off. One of the bullets managed to graze his arm, making him curse as he ran out of the pillar and jumped behind a car. He was frantically looking around, trying to find something fast enough when his profiler rang and Jordi’s name flashed on his screen. He did **NOT** have time for this.

“What?!” he ran behind another car, the guards slowly making their way to him. If he couldn’t find any car he would try his luck with the streets.

“Uh yeah, sorry, forgot to tell you something” he stepped out from the cover of the car just to scramble back down when more shots were given his way “security is really tight in the building so you might want to take that into account”

“A little late for that Jordi!” another shoot grazed his leg as he ran to the next car and he had to hold back his scream of pain, this day was just turning to be the worst he's had in a while.

“Oh well, good luck” the call disconnected and he had a momentary desire to toss the phone at the guards, if he survives this he is going to punch Jordi in the face.

Bless these rich folks and their taste for race cars, as he turned around the family van he was using as cover he finally found the perfect car, the hot red Scafati GT parked right in front of him was exactly what he needed. He waited until a cease of fire to run to the car, forcing the door open he climbed up as more shoots came, shattering the windshield. Not wasting time he hit the accelerated, running over a guard and hitting a parked car, if any of the shoots managed to pierce the tires there is no way he is making it out of this one alive, the parking door opened with another command from his profiler and off he went at full speed through the streets of Chicago, not once looking back.

Minutes later, when he parked on the side of the street, sound and safe back on Parker Square, he took a moment to just breathe.

He was definitely too old for this.

-

The first thing he did once he arrived at his hideout was take a shower, let all the sweat and stress from the shooting wash out of him with the warm water. After that he took care of the few wounds he had received, it was actually not that bad, he had got it worse on previous contracts so he would count himself lucky. After he dressed on a more comfortable outfit and drank a bottle of water he sat down in front of his computer, it was time to decrypt the data he had retrieved. This was not a part of the original plan.

Jordi had been clear, get in, get out and give him the data, in no part of it was said he should have to decrypt it, but his curiosity was too big, he just couldn’t give it away without having a look at it. Whatever this was, was important enough for someone to hire Jordi, and then for him to go out of his way to ask Aiden for help with it.

Decrypting the files took longer than expected, the algorithms much more complicated than he had first thought.

As he finished reading the first mail he pushed back his chair, staring blankly at the screen.

“What the hell is this?”

-

August 15th 20xx 20:16 hrs.

My friend,

I am writing this to congratulate you for your promotion, as well as to encourage you to continue acting as we have planned. One rarely finds oneself in such an opportune position as yours.

You know, as well as I do, that we cannot leave the masses to continue being feed the _truth_ , for only with what we allow them to see they can achieve true freedom of the worries of the modern world. That is our burden, to shepherd those beneath us through life by any means necessary, to show them what to trust, what to believe. You my friend have achieved your first goal in the path of progress of society, with you in this new position of power now we can start to make a difference on the people of Chicago. We will show them what we must, we will tell them what to do, the News channel is no longer for the public, it is ours, and we will use it as we seem fit.

I must warn and request you to be careful, there is word that “They” are coming closer to us. After their _messiah_ was gone we foolishly thought ourselves victorious, we were wrong. If something they are is resilient, there are already plans on the making to deal with them, but it is not safe yet, watch your back.

If everything goes as planned, soon, no longer than a year, the government will no longer derive its authority from the people, but from us, their protectors. You must continue to move forward.

Your next orders will come soon, stay in check, stay safe.

May the Father of Understatement guide you.

-

In hindsight greeting Jordi with a fist to the face was not his best idea, the pain of his knuckles an unkind reminder, but the satisfaction of looking at the fixer sprawled out in the floor with blood coming out of his now broken nose was totally worth it.

“Ugghhh... why the aggression?” the fixer stood up, letting out a groan of pain as he set his nose back in position, cleaning the blood from his face with his jacket sleeve.

“Small payback for not telling me about the security in the building” Aiden replied as he went to close the door. The garage had not changed much from last year, the chair where Maurice had once been tied was still there, as well some new stuff, gun magazines and various hardware pieces strewn around the place, most likely Jordi's addition to the small hideout.

“Ok fine, I'll let it slide this time” there was annoyance on his face as he looked at the now soiled sleeve of what once was his pristine white jacket before raising his hand, palm up to Aiden “Since you are well enough to punch my teeth out I guess you managed to get it done”

For a second he considered telling Jordi that he had not, but at the end he just sighed and reached into his jacket “Yeah, here” he tossed a small flash drive at Jordi's general direction.

“Hey! Well done, knew I could trust on you” a smile bloomed on his face as he catches the device in midair “Now, what do you think about it?”

“What do you mean?” He had never been good at faking innocence, been told one too many time it was obvious on his voice whenever he lied.

“Please, I know you, your curiosity wouldn’t leave you alone, it's your only shortcoming, being fair it is the reason why you get in so many problems” no way to deny that “so out with it, what do you think?”

“I don’t know” there was no correct way to react to what he had read, the first mail had been weird enough, it was like reading some sensationalist lies written by a madman in one of those secret societies clubs that spend their time trying to find hidden messages on television commercials, but the more he read the weirder it got, meeting plans, underground business contracts, documents write down with cyphers he could not understand, it just keep on getting more and more mysterious. Had he not retrieved it from the laptop of a vice president of one of the biggest News channel of Chicago he would have confused it with something DedSec would say, if they actually did something else but mess with the police.

“Hmm is that so?” Jordi sounded as uninterested on what he was being told as a man talking about the weather, walking around the room, picking up some stuff here and there to inspect.

“I don’t understand what kind of value those mails have for you” He continued as he noticed the fixer wouldn't be dignified to say anything useful “or for whomever your client is. If what is said in there is true, they have no way to relate it to anyone, there are no signatures, no logo, no mark, and they cannot prove where I took it from, by now that rich vice president must have already deleted everything from his laptop.” There was something else he had to say, but a part of him was adamant on accepting the fact he had been outsmarted, but he forced himself to keep on talking “I tried, to track back some of the mails, but whoever send them was good, better than me, I could not find anything to work with. Why does your client is after this info Jordi?”

“Hell if I know”

“Really?” Ok, he could admit that was not what he had been expecting to hear.

“I was told to retrieve the info Aiden, nothing else”

Disbelieve was obvious on his face as he stared at Jordi “As if that had stopped you before from knowing exactly what is going on at all time on the city. If I am curious, you are even worse”

Jordi seemed to be once again ignoring him, looking at the flash drive on his hand, bringing it up to eye level and turning it one side and another against the light, as if he could see what was inside it doing so “You are right” He finally spoke after some tense minutes of silence “I might be kind of curious about what this say, and judging by your face it must be priceless, but my client doesn’t really need it for anything, their main goal was not to get the info but to get you to read it”

Letting go of the flash drive Jordi shrugged and stepped on it, grinding down hard with the heel of his shoes, making sure it was completely useless.

“Whatever is in those files no one but you is supposed to have it, what you do with it is none of my business”

“So that's it”

“In my line of work I have come to learn that sometimes it is better to just shut up and do as you're told, this is one of those times. And now, your payment”

“Right, the supposed information you have that is worth all this hassle”

“Oh but it is worth all of it. You got me that” he pointed at the broken pieces of the flash drive on the floor “so I owe you, and I don’t like owing anyone”

Annoyance creeps up his back as he looked at the broken pieces of plastic on the floor “Fine, out with it then. What do you know?”

For once Jordi went directly to the point, and for once Aiden wishes he had not “Blume is coming back, and with a brand new CtOS to boot”

“Bullshit” his hands clenched at his side as he tried to keep his body in check, the need to bail out of there and just get away as far as possible too big all of a sudden “Blume went bankrupt” he forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths as he tried to get the words out “There is no way they are coming back, not this soon”

“Nope, pretty sure is true. Got the details from a reliable source and all”

“Source you won’t share”

“Right, right, you know me well. Anyway, if I were you I would be getting ready for when they come back, it will be a problem for your little Vigilante work wont it?” If Blume was coming back and bring CtOS under their control it wouldn’t be only him with problems, everyone in the city would find themselves once again being watched every single moment of the day, all their information, all their lives recorded and stored for anyone to use. How long until another Lucky Quinn came forward? Wanting to use Blume for their own gain, abusing the power CtOS would give them.

“Now I must leave, you know how this is, got lots of jobs to complete, heads to bash, cars to steal and money to win.”

Holding him by the arm Aiden stopped him before he could leave “Before you are gone, one last question”

Pulling his arm free Jordi continued to smile in that annoying I-know-something-you-dont way “Only one”

“Who was your client?”

The grin just got bigger as Jordi turned around, walking out of the garage “Why don't you find out by yourself Vigilante?” he replied before climbing up on his car and driving away.

-

For a while he allowed himself to keep the whole mess with Jordi and the mails out of his mind, instead he concentrated on his usual work, stopping robbers, helping people in any way he could and messing around with the police without actually letting them know it had been him, for the most part it worked, until he would get back home and log in his computer, seeing the files on his desktop always worked to remind him there was something he should probably be looking into.

He tried to convince himself that there was actually no reason at all to do it, what he had read, even though interesting, had to fundaments. Why should he waste his time looking into something that sounded like a mad man’s tale? But his god damn curiosity wouldn’t leave him alone, at any moment of calm his mind would go back to those letters and try to make sense out of what he had read. Eventually he came up with such crazy theories that would have made DedSec sound like a bunch of normal law abiding citizens.

He found himself in one of that theory making moments as he sat on a stolen car right outside a Dinner, eating a burger and listening to the police radio he had intercepted on his profiler. The mails referred often enough ‘They’, to be careful, that ‘They’ were getting close, it seemed there were two factions on play here, but fighting for what? And what was that bit about the Messiah? The leader maybe? So the mail group took down the _Messiah_ of the other group, could this be some kind of gang rivalry? But it didn't make sense, why would the vice president of a News channel be involved with gangs, maybe it had to do with the black Market. His head was starting to hurt thinking about it. He tossed the burger wrapping out the window and reclined his seat back, rubbing his forehead. The more he thought about it the more complicated it all got, he should just try once again to trace back the mails, with a little bit of work he might be able to do it.

It was not only those mails that made him lose sleep, Jordi had said Blume was coming back, and no matter how crazy it sounded he couldn’t just ignore the warning. The logical part of his mind told him there was no way for the security company to come back after such a short time, but the fact that the information had come from Jordi weighted more than any logical explanation, no matter how much he didn’t trust the man with his live Aiden knew that if Jordi said it, it must be true. Say what you want about the fixer but his web of contacts ran deeper than Lucky Quinn’s black market deals did back when he was alive.

The worst was that Jordi wouldn’t tell him who his source was, so he couldn’t verify what he had been told. None of his own sources had been able to give him any clear answers, there were some whispers here and there but nothing concrete. If CtOS was truly coming back online that would be a huge problem and he should probably start getting ready for the worst.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a call of help in the police radio, a citizen had seen a group of people forcefully pull someone inside a white van and drive away from The Wards, the concerned citizen had immediately called the police but they had lost track of the Van at the tunnels in Mad Mile. They were requesting all officers to look out for any suspicious activity around the zone.

Turning on the car he drove to the location where the kidnapping had happened. Forget all about crazy conspiracy theories, this was the kind of stuff he should be working on, helping the citizens of Chicago.

He arrived on time to see the police interrogating the witness. The street was crowded, the neighbors had come out wanting to see what was going on. Police officers were trying to calm them down, telling them to return to their homes and that everything was under control, but the citizens were already talking between them, teenagers with their phones out trying to get a good look at the crime scene.

He ignored the gasps and whispers of a few of the people who had already recognized him, making sure not to cross the police line he stood up at the front of the group of people, looking at the alley were some detectives were already looking for clues of what had happened. Some officers got anxious once they realized he was there, most likely since they couldn't ask him to leave, he was not doing anything illegal by just standing on the road.

“How awful, and it is not the first one is it?” a pair of old ladies were chatting between them just a few feet from where he was standing, he turned slightly their way to pay attention.

“The police won’t admit it but I am sure just last week I heard my brother talk about another kidnapping incident pretty similar to this one on The Loop, the cops are doing nothing to stop this?”

“I know, but what else could you expect from them?”

He stopped listening after that, moving away from the crowd. Walking around the building and avoiding the police he looked for one of the old CtOS junction boxes, if true the system was still active some of their hardware, mostly security cameras, had been turned off, he couldn't remember if he had already turned this particular camera on, so it would be easier to just connect directly. He found the box behind a trash can, the cover was off and it looked as it had been damaged by the rain, he could only hope it still worked as he connected his profiler to it. Bringing the system back even for a short time, took quite the amount of energy, but once turned on it would be his to command from now on.

He was no detective but it didn't took a genius to notice how off the crime scene was. As the cameras came back online he had a perfect view into the alley, the detectives were still taking pictures, yellow tabs marking the clues they had been able to find. What mostly called his attention were the different marks that pointed to a fight, they were unusual. A normal citizen would have screamed, they would have tried to hit their kidnappers, maybe bite or scratch them, try anything to get free, but the evidence here pointed to something different. There were foot marks on the walls, as well as scratches fit for a bladed weapon, a knife maybe, scorch marks and blood splatters in the weirdest places. It just didn't fit. Had the victim been holding a knife? What were those scorch marks? Why were there foot prints on the walls, it wasn't just one or two, it almost looked as if they had been using the wall to climb up.

Saving all the pictures on his profiler he left the place and hurried to his closest hideout, if what the old ladies had been talking about was true there should be another kidnapping report somewhere in the police records. Logging into their system was no problem, their security now a child's play without Blume backup.

The report of the first kidnapping did not help much, just like with the one today a citizen had heard ruckus on an alley behind his apartment building in The Loop, when he went to investigate he got there in time to see someone push another person into a white van and drive away. No car plate numbers or description of the criminals. The forensics pictures confirmed the connection between incidents, similar foot and scorch marks were found in the crime scene.

Things just keep on getting weirder.

The detectives had decided to retrieve the security footage of the neighboring building, identifying the van and following it around the city through the different security cameras, both public and private. Their intention had been to find either the place where they were hiding or the closest point to it, but as they followed the van into the Mad Mile tunnel system they lost track of it. They had footage of all the possible exits of the tunnels, had gone as far as checking the next 48 hours after the kidnapping, but not once had the van come out. Police officers had been sent into the tunnels to search the multiple parking lots and garages down there, but they had come back with nothing. The white van had disappeared into the air.

He downloaded everything the police had, storing it next to the new information he had retrieved from the alley on The Wards. It is too soon to say that both cases are related, no matter how similar they are. He needs more data.

Getting into the security feeds from the store next to the crime scene of the latest kidnapping took more time that he was comfortable with. At least the police would take even longer to get the permissions to request this data, so he had the advantage here.

Following the van along the darkened streets of the city was a difficult work, most cameras were now offline since they depended on the CtOS to function, only a fraction of the city security was still working, some he had brought back online, others private cameras of some high end business. It was time consuming to find a working camera, hack into their systems and retrieve the data. Sometimes he would lost the track of the van for a while if the cameras were on a private server, inaccessible from any outsider. It took most of the night for him to follow the van until it had gone back to Mad Mile, with a bad feeling he keep on following it through the feeds, until at least it went down into the tunnel systems.

More hours passed as he went through all the cameras he could find that pointed to the exit of the tunnels, but he just couldn't find any track of the van. It had just disappeared like before.

Sighing he turned off his computer, making sure first to have saved all the information he had found.

The secret door on the shipping container closed behind him as he made his way out into the city, the buildings tinted on the orange light of the afternoon. He had spent too much time holed up on his hideout going through the data, a meal at the closest dinner sounded like a great idea at the moment, after that he would have to go out and investigate more about these kidnappings.

Halfway to the dinner his profiler rang, Jordi's name flashing on the screen. He did not want to answer, he had been doing well ignoring everything related to that one job he had done for the fixer. Now he had something real to work in, not the crazy words on some mails or the unlikely news of Blume coming back, but something in the back of his head made him pick up the call.

“What is it now Jordi?”

“I got you big news” he could already see the lights of the dinner down the street, his stomach making a sound of protest since it had not been feed in hours.

“Am I going to have to take another suicidal mission for you to tell me what the big news is?”  He hurried his steps as he got closer to the small shop, thinking already of what he would order.

“No, this one is free of cost” he was climbing up the steps, hand already on the handle of the door when a sense of dread filled his whole body, knuckles white from the force he was using to hold the handle.

“Blume is back, checked and confirmed, no doubt about it”

“What?” he stepped back, turning away from the dinner, hunger forgotten as he walked to the closest alley and sat down atop some boxes. “Impossible”

“Oh but it is, I bet tomorrow it will be all over the news, and in a few days CtOS will be back online”

Part fear and part worry filled him as he sat there trying to make sense of what was going on. It was almost as if everything that had happened a year ago was coming back.

“Are you still there with me Aiden? Hey?”

“Yeah I am here” it took him a while to force the words out.

“Good, for a moment there I thought you had fainted or something! Come on man, think of the possibilities, with CtOS back your job will be 10 times easier! Full integrated control and security systems at your hand! Well of course you will need to get the access, but how hard can it be?”

“Jordi, for fuck's sake, who cares about my job. How long until we get another Lucky Quinn taking advantage of something like the CtOS? Heck! Having a big eye in the sky looking at everyone is already bad enough! How did they even manage to come back from bankruptcy?”

“Sponsors maybe? Look I understand why you're so against CtOS, but at least you will be there looking out for the people! And maybe taking some of my jobs, you know, a man needs to eat”

His mind was already swimming with all the possible scenarios, plans already forming on his mind against the worst of them. He will need more resources, maybe acquire more weapons, make his hideouts were safe, he will need to get back in contact with some of his older 'friends' as well, make a network as soon as possible.

“Is not like you have anything else to do!” His entire plan making came to a halt at Jordi's words.

“I do, there is something else going on in the city” for the first time he knew something the fixer didn't, he didn't feel excitement over that fact. It took a little over an hour to tell Jordi all he knew, leaving out some parts, his lack of trust on the Asian man had not changed, but against his own self-preservation he knew if he was to work on this as well as the whole deal with Blume it would be in his best interest to have Jordi on his side.

When he was done telling all he knew he finally felt strong enough to stand up and get out of the alley, walking past the dinner without a second glance, food will have to wait.

“Strange”

He stopped at the bus station, too tired and wore down to try and steal any car, the bus will suffice, he needs the resources he has available on his room in the Owl Motel if he wants to take care of this whole mess. “What's strange?”

“Everything” It was already late at night, the bus stop thankfully empty so he did not feel any apprehension from talking with Jordi in such an open space “That contract I got for you, Blume coming back, the kidnappings, hell even the fact that just a few days ago Abstergo opened its base of operations in the city! Doesn't it all smell funny to you?”

“You think they are related?”

Jordi was silent for a minute, when he replied his voice came out with a serious tone Aiden rarely got to hear from the fixer “Tell me Aiden, what are the probabilities of this all happening at the same time? A big corporation like Abstergo opens its new building in the city, a company known for its technological advances years ahead of anything else, just at the same time that a contract comes for you to retrieve some data from one of the biggest News channels on the city”

He sat at the back of the bus, away from a pack of drunk teenagers, looking out the window at the lights of the city, everything slowly clicking into place on his head “And then the kidnappings that seem impossible, all of this happening right before Blume miraculously comes back from bankruptcy” he finished for Jordi.

“Exactly!”

“If you're right, if there is some connection between all of it then this will be a huge problem” he could already see everything going to hell.

“Probably, what will you do about it?”

He knew exactly what to do, just like a year ago he would investigate everything, find the source and destroy it. He wouldn't allow anything to happen to the city, he was The Vigilante, and he would act like it “My job”


	2. 01001101 01101111 01110110 01100101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jumping to your death is never a smart decision, then why the hell is he doing it?! Oh right, to save himself from an even worst fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update is shorter than expected, story took a turn I didn't plan but it continues with the main plot I planned so I allowed it.  
> Who loves the silenced gun? I love the silenced gun. Best weapon ever.  
> Also yay finally getting to the interesting parts.  
> I cannot wait.

Good morning Chicago. On today's News Abstergo Entertainment has revealed on a press conference yesterday their new Helix Console, the gaming device will be available from pre-sale starting next week, with a set release date for June this year. For those of you game enthusiasts they have also released some preview images of their next game for the virtual reality system, this time it looks like a pirate adventure, we will be anxiously waiting for more information about this exciting new story.

In what's sure to be the most unexpected reveal of the year, Blume, the technology and security company, has announced that they are coming back from bankruptcy. With their return comes the implementation of CtOS 2.0 a decision that has cost the City Mayor a huge popularity drop. Blume's CCO comments that after last year incident, the company's developers have implemented   great modifications to their technology, and promise their system is impenetrable. According to their release statement, no hacker will be able to get to any of our personal information, and said information will be used only to ensure the wellbeing of the citizens of Chicago. We will have more to discuss about this later.

Last night the city found itself shaking in fear after the report of the kidnapping of a young woman on The Wards. The police is currently looking into the case and we are waiting from any new development. We have been informed that on the scene of the crime some citizens have declared that The Vigilante, Aiden Pearce, was seen alongside the police officers, could it be that the local hero is looking into this? Learn more after this break.

-

Once the news of Blume bringing back CtOS were made public the city found itself divided. On one side where those excited over the return of the security system, claiming that it would help keep the streets safe and that finally someone was doing something to protect them, on the other side were those who had not forgotten what happened just a year ago, those afraid that all their personal information would be used to manipulate them, to benefit only a few at the top, they demanded CtOS to be taken down.

There was a third group, smaller in numbers, who proclaimed they were better off with The Vigilante as the only security measure. Aiden could do nothing else but feel anxious whenever someone showed their agreement with this group. He was one man, no matter how much he tried and how little he slept there was only so much he could do, taking care of the whole city was impossible and he knew that, but knowing the people trusted him in such a way made him feel obligated to do something. The pressure keep building up with each word of support throw his way.

It didn't help his stress levels that DedSec was more active than ever now that Blume had come back.

Aiden had been on first line to see their great return. Every single screen on the center of The Loop had been hacked, all streams replaced with the logo of DedSec. Later Aiden would discover this transmission had been going on all over the city in multiple channels, from the boat homes on Pawnee all the way to Brandon Docks.

“We warned you” the screens flickered from the skull logo to a male figure, their features hidden by shadows and voice distorted “We told you about this, but none of you paid us any mind and now the greatest threat to our safety, to our freedom, has come back” Promotional pictures of the Blume corporation filled the screen alongside messages of beware and danger “CtOS paints itself as the greatest contribution to our community but don’t let yourself be fooled, if we forget the past we will never be able to learn and move forward.” A video of the security personnel of Blume shooting at an unseen target replaced the warnings “CtOS is nothing more than a bomb waiting for the fuse to be lighted. All your data,  your lives, at the reach of a hand for anyone willing to abuse it” Lucky Quinn's picture came up, by now most people on the street had stopped to watch, talking to each other, worried, confused, some had their phones out recording what was going on “We will not allow it. You have shamed us, made us look like a joke but even so we will protect you.” The faceless man was on screen once again “We will take down Blume and destroy their systems, the city will not be under the control of a few. We will set you free”

The transmission had been cut abruptly after that, had it been planned as such or they had been found and shut off Aiden didn't know.

When he had discovered the hacker group, years ago, at first he had wanted to join them, but as more time passed and he learned the kind of actions DedSec took to achieve their goal he decided to star as far away as possible from it. They talked about safety of the city, of protecting the lives of the people, but they abused the information they collected for their own benefits. Anyone that dared to get in their ways would be eliminated, by their own hands or fixers contracted to do their dirty work.

The Council of the Daves, the so called leaders of DedSec, could no longer keep in line their own people, the hacker group had grown so big it was no surprise some of their members had started to act for their personal benefits and interests.

Just hours after the transmission had ended Blume released a statement. They proclaimed there was nothing to fear, everyone's data was safe, no one would be able to access it. It had been too late, people were speaking now, and each day that passed Aiden found that more and more young people started to affiliate themselves with the hacker group. They wanted to feel contribute, to help keep their families safe, what better way than joining a group of hackers.

It worried him. These young people were easily impressionable and manipulated. The Daves and the majority of old DedSec members are adults, old enough to understand the dangers that came with the live they had choose, but the newest members were children, reckless and ambitious, they would do anything and wouldn't stop to think before acting, uncaring of the consequences their actions have. In the long run it will bring more problems than solutions to everyone involved.

But he couldn't worry about them, not now.

The car drifted as he took a sharp turn, barely avoiding hitting another car that had been waiting for the green light, he could still hear the police sirens behind him. Taking a left into an alley he turned off the car and pushed down his seat, staying quiet as the police cars rushed past him. After 10 minutes went on without any car coming back he finally relaxed and pulled up the seat.

He should count himself lucky that CtOS was still not 100% operational in the city, the police Scan was still offline and they couldn't track his car. The integration of the system into the city was a slow process, Blume had started by bringing back the surveillance and traffic light system controls, but the rest would take longer since most of their control towers were in poor condition after a year of being abandoned.

He left the car in the alley, the police would be looking for that model and color, and the bullet holes on its side were too easy to recognize. The money he had taken as a bonus of his latest work was a bothersome weight on his pockets. Seriously how hard was it to understand that he could just get his payment with a click, no need for the old school briefcase full of money.

The walk to one of his hideout did not took longer than half an hour, the small space inside the container clean and functional, comfortable enough he had no problem crashing there for the night. _Just a few hours of sleep, enough to feel refreshed_ , he told himself as he dropped face first on the bed.

Before he fell asleep he glanced at the map above his working station on the opposite wall of the bed, 3 red points marking the locations where people had been taken by force. His mind wandered back to the latest kidnapping as he tried to force himself to shut down.

-

He had intercepted the transmission from Brandon Docks. It had come as he tried to lose some gang members who weren't too happy with him for getting in their business. Being fair, blowing up their drugs and hinting at the police their location was the responsible thing to do as a concerned citizen. For a second there he had been worried the transmission means the police was getting involved on the chase, but when the voice over his profiler had started to request patrols to attend to a kidnapping at the cemetery on Parker Square he had relaxed for a second, before a round of bullets shattered  his car's back screen.

Right, car chase.

It took him over 30 min to lose his pursuers and another 20 more to arrive at the crime scene. A crowd had already gathered around the perimeter secured by the police. He tried to cut through the people, but as he got closer he found himself with a camera and mic shoved on his face, the News reporter wouldn't miss the opportunity to finally get the Vigilante's word about what was going on in the city. Some times this popularity thing was really annoying. He tried to push past them but they wouldn’t budge, the questions kept on coming as more reporters noticed him and he couldn't see past the camera flashes and recorders.

“Mr. Pearce any comment about these kidnapping incidents?”

“Are you and the police working together on this case? Or are you going to do this on your own?”

“Is the Vigilante taking care of this? Have you found anything that the police haven’t?”

“How many more kidnappings will you allow to happen Mr. Pearce?”

Finally feed up with everything turned around with a “No comments” out of his lips before leaving the cemetery. When he tried to obtain the recordings of the incident he discovered the old cemetery only had 2 outdated cameras pointing to the entrance. There was nothing else left for him to do but wait.

-

With a groan he gave up on sleep, turning on the bed, looking at the metal ceiling of the container. He hated the feeling of being completely useless. It had been not even a day since it had happened but he would have to wait at least another 8 hours before the police had all the information they had retrieved on their servers so he could access it, he had gone back to the crime scene hours later, but the constant rain, always present this time of the year, had cleaned everything the police had not already taken.

What he had been able to do was hack into the security cameras nearby to the cemetery just to find the same white van, or one pretty similar, driving away from the scene. He proceeded to tail all the way to Mad Mile, and down the tunnels systems, where it, once again, disappeared.

20 hours since the kidnapping, 30 hours since he had last gone to sleep. He couldn't keep going like this, whole days without sleep were taking a toll on his body, but he couldn't force himself to rest, there was so much to do, and so little time, the 6 hours he spend sleeping could be used tracking down people, saving others, protecting and helping.

He couldn't remember the last time he had woken up feeling rested.

His profiler rang, there was another alert of a kidnapping, this time on the Loop. _Too soon,_ he thought, it had been a week time lapse between each kidnapping, and now it hadn't even been 2 days since the last one. He knew he had to go, be there before the media, but for a second he considered not going, let the police do their work, he could hack into their systems later to copy their reports.

He couldn't do that, what if they missed something he could have seen? What if there was a clue somewhere only he could understand? He couldn't risk it.

30 minutes later he was standing as close as possible to the police officers that were already circling the crime scene yellow tape, there were a few citizens around, the usual crowd of curious bystanders yet to form, and thankfully there was no sight of any media car just yet.

Around the corner of the crime scene he found one of the old junction boxes of CtOS, he connected his phone and rested against the wall, tapping away at his screen to connect to the security cameras he had seen above the alley where the detectives had been taking pictures.

A moment later he punched the wall in rage, **'Unable to connect'** shone bright red letters on the screen of his profiler.

It wasn't possible, he should have been able to get into the system without a problem, he had all the access code.

_He had all the **old** access codes of CtOS._

The police sirens keep blaring in the background, the murmuring growing as more people started to gather around the crime scene, it wouldn't take long for the media to get here, cameras and microphones ready to fight each other. All of it ignored by Aiden as he stood there, shoulders tense, hand throbbing slightly in pain. Why had he not thought about this before? With CtOS back and fully functional of course they would not risk keeping the same access codes. Rationally speaking he knew this would happen, but he hadn't considered it happening this soon.

Disconnecting his profiler he moved away from the wall. As he walked past the police officers he could see some of them looking at him, something smug on the way they didn't take their eyes away from him as he made his way down the street, almost as if they knew.

He pushed back the flare of anger, there were more important things to do. If CtOS was fully functional on the streets then it would be the same in the police headquarters, meaning his plan to retrieve the reports of the last kidnapping was now useless.

He needs to get access to Blume's system, and soon.

-

24 hours later he found himself outside an inconspicuous building in the Loop. If his contacts hadn't confirmed that this was the current location of one of the base of operations of Blume he would have believed it to be just any other apartment building in the city, even the receptionist at the front welcomed everyone with a generic “Hi, Good morning, you're calling apartments New Life, how may I help you?” Looks like this time Blume wouldn't risk letting just anyone know where they were keeping their servers.

After discovering he no longer had access to the security feeds he had gone back home and forced himself to sleep for the next 6 hours, knowing he would need to be rested if he was going to try and infiltrate one of Blume's secure server rooms. Once he woke up he contacted everyone that might have any kind of information regarding the return of Blume, some of his contacts had been surprised to hear from him again, no surprise there, it had been a long time since he had such a big heist in the making, big enough he would need someone's help.

A guy working on the City archives facilitated him the blueprints of the building, they were outdated by a year and, most likely than not, the building had been remodeled on the inside to fit its new purpose, but it helped him to think where was most likely for them to keep the servers he needed to access and to find a way in and out.

He had tried to contact Tobias, wanting to buy some IEDs and other tools from his store, but he had not been able to find the old Blume employee. When he went to check, the store was closed, and without access to CtOS it was impossible for him to find one man in the city, this had forced him to spend money and time to crafts his own tools and explosives. He really did not enjoy crafting.

Stopping by his room on the Owl Motel he had retrieved his trusty silenced  1911 gun, as well as his D50, he hoped he wouldn't need to use this one. If everything went well he would be in and out without having to give a single shoot, knowing his record most likely that wouldn't be the case, but he could still hope. He still had two extra rounds of shoots for each gun stored under his jacket, he was not risking it.

He hid behind a pillar on the alley next to the building, from there he could see the service entrance and remain out of sight of anyone leaving. Now he just needed to wait for one of the cleaning employees to come out. Hours later, after his legs had started to hurt from standing up for so long, someone finally walked out. The old man pushed a trolley with trash bags on it, he seemed exhausted by the long day of work. He had not stopped to make sure the door was completely closed before continuing on his way, Aiden took advantage of it, quickly walking from behind the pillar to the door and sneaking inside.

The first floor was relatively empty at this hour, he could hear some voices coming from what he supposed to be the front of the building, but they were too far away to worry about. He keep his steps quiet, making sure to check for guards or people before taking any turn. Someone would notice his intrusion eventually, but he was not about to make it easy for them. He stuck to the walls when he noticed any security camera, trying to go through them without being recorded, but he was not sure he had managed to do so with all of them.

Once he arrived at the service stairs he made his way down. The decision coming from experience more than knowledge, there was no information of the location of the servers, but normally they would be located somewhere underground.

He had forgotten that Blume was anything but normal.

The only things on the basement were rooms after rooms filled with empty boxes, old office furniture and some cleaning supplies.

The only option left was to check each upper level, but there were seven floors, with only god knows how much security, if he can't reach the servers before being found there won't be any time to get the access codes he needs.

A last check of himself, IEDs and distraction tools in place, gun with the secure on and the magazine full, a sigh, a shake of his head and up he went. He walked back up to the first level, down an aisle and to his left, hiding behind a soda machine. There was a security camera upfront, turning slowly from one side of the aisle to the other. He waited until it had turned away before rushing forward, to the right and into the first door. The bathroom stalls where gratefully empty. Based on the old blueprints he had, each floor was of a similar design, and he could think of only two rooms in each one that would be fit to store the servers.

Stepping out of the bathrooms he went back the way he came, instead of turning down the aisle to the soda machine he went the other way. First room should be close by, at a corner he stopped, back to the wall, checking for people before moving on, he was nearing the next cross of aisles when he heard footsteps, without a second to waste he jumped, hiding behind a service trolley just in time to spot a security guard pass by, gun at hand.

“Don't come down here, come on keep walking”

The guard took a look down the aisle before he kept going. Taking a calming breath Aiden came out of hiding. That had been close. He continues, now paying more attention to any sound around.  Two aisles down, he found the doors to the first room, unguarded, not a good signal.

Checking for security cameras and discovering none close enough to capture his face he walked forward, opening the door and looking at the empty conference room.

“Damn it”

He walked away, taking a right he only had to keep going down the aisle to reach the second room, as he neared the last cross of aisles before the door he heard footsteps, and this time there was nowhere to hide. Taking out one of the lures he had on his belt he tossed it as far away as possible on the opposite direction from where the guard was coming. He stayed down, body flushed against the wall, listening to the steps getting closer, when he was sure the guard was about to get to his position he activated the lure. The music was just loud enough to stop the guard on his steps, before rushing forward to check on it, passing right next to Aiden and never once looking down to where he is hiding.

It wouldn't distract him for long, but enough for him to arrive at the doors and toss them open, walking into another empty conference room.

Well, he had been expecting something like this. Six floors left to check.

The next four were pretty much the same, walking down deserted dark aisles as fast and quietly as possible, avoiding cameras and guards, diving behind hiding spots and luring guards out of his way.

He started to get restless when an hour had passed and he had yet to find anything even hinting that this was a Blume office. Maybe his sources had been wrong and he had just wasted time playing spy on an accounting building, or something equally boring.

Because of the lack of clues he got careless. He opened the door to the fifth floor without checking if there was anyone on the other side. The guard stared at him for a good 3 seconds before going for his gun. Aiden cursed as he pulled out his new baton, using it to deflect the gun pointing at his face, he wasn't fast enough to stop the first shot from being fired, but enough so that the bullet missed its target, his hand came down fast, hitting with the baton behind the guard’s neck rendering him unconscious.

Mere seconds after the alarms started blaring.

He pulled out his gun as he ran down the aisle. Stealth had been tossed out the window, now he had to find the god damn servers' room as fast as possible. He kicked open the door of the first room only to find it empty, groaning he turned around running to the next door, only 2 floors left, if he finds it before the rest of the guards catch up he... well he doesn't know what he will do, but at least he will have the data.

-

He was fucked.

At the moment we was sitting inside the conference room, gun in hand, head resting on the closed door and the sound of the guards getting closer. There were some lures left on his pocket, and a replace magazine for his gun.

The truth was he couldn't take them all out. Had he done it stealthy, maybe, but like this? No way.

They were kicking down the doors, checking each room to make sure he wouldn't escape. He was considering how many bullets he would be able to withstand if he rushed out now and tried to go past them when his phone vibrated. There were more important things to worry about than Jordi calling him at inconvenient times, so he let it ring, until he noticed the ring tone was not that of a call.

Giving it a second consideration he pulled it out to find a wall of messages.

**Hi there!**

**Hey you, the old man in the ugly coat and lame hat**

**Need some help?**

**Dude, don't ignore me**

**Come on, are you there?**

**How long will you ignore your phone?**

**Fucking look at the screen, won't take you even a second**

**Are you for real! DUDE LOOK AT YOUR PHONE**

**Asshole**

**Here I am trying to help and you ignore me unbelievable!**

**Hey**

**Hey**

**Hey**

**Hey**

**Hey!!!!**

**> :(**

“What the fuck?” there was no sender name. A new message popped up before he could ever think of a reply.

**Oh god finally, seriously how can you ignore your phone for so long? I have never been able to do that**

_Who are you? How did you get this number?_

**You are asking that at a time like this? Seriously? You have like 15 guys coming your way with guns at the ready and you care about who I am???**

_How do you know that?_

**Look up**

On the opposite wall he could see a security camera, why the guards didn't think of using the feed to find him eluded him, the camera did a slow up and down movement. Giving a nod back to it he looked down at his profiler and the new messages displayed on it.

**Neat, right?**

**Was messing around in the security feed and when I saw you doing all kind of weird ninja stuff for the last hour**

**Hilarious truly**

**Anyway**

**Want any help?**

The steps were getting closer, he didn’t have too much time to spare before they would come barging where he was and filling him with bullets.

But he couldn’t just trust an unknown person who had somehow being able to hack his systems.

**Tick Tock, time is running**

_Fine, how are we doing this?_

**C:**

**The servers are on the seventh floor**

**Go straight, take the first right, keep going until you hit a wall and then left, left, and straight until you get to the stairs**

**I’ll distract the guards**

**GO!**

“What the…”

Before he could ask for more details the lights on the room went off. He stayed there, looking up at the ceiling lights like an idiot until his phone vibrated, he didn’t need to look at it to know what it said.

**Run!**

He pushed open the door and started running down the aisle, taking a right and then straight as he had been told. Everything was completely dark so it was not that much of a surprise when he ran straight into the wall, the force of the hit making him fall back on his ass. With a pained groan he stood up, turning to his left and continuing moving.

He could hear the guards, screaming at each other in confusion over what was happening.

He couldn’t believe he trusted his life in some anonymous messenger. What if this was a trap? He could damn well be running directly into the guards.

The door to the seventh floor was open, he couldn’t see anyone inside but that didn’t mean there wasn’t. Unless all the guards had been down trying to get to him, he wouldn’t put it past them.

Getting out his profiler he sent a quick message.

_You said you would distract them, how do you plan to do that?_

The explosion came without any warning, he looked down the railing to see smoke coming up, the next second the guards rushed into the stairs and he pulled back from the railing with a curse, staying close to the wall as he heard them run downstairs.

His phone vibrated.

**Like that**

**Now stop wasting time, I won’t be able to distract them for long, the servers are down the aisle**

He closed the door and blocked it with a chair he found on the first office, at least that would give him a few seconds when the guards came.

He could see the server room from here. He tried the door but obviously it was locked, as he tried to think of a way to open it he heard a click, trying the door again it opened this time. A look at his profiler confirmed it had been the anonymous hacker's job.

**You're welcome, now hurry**

Ok now he was getting annoyed. Why was he taking orders from this person? Another explosion sounded somewhere downstairs and he remembered he was alive because of them, that was enough reason for now.

His phone connected and the invasive software started to work, it would take a while depending in how high the security was, he had calculated at least 5 minutes, did he even had that much time?

Leaving the software to work on the background he opened up the chat app once again. He needed some answers.

_How are you even triggering those explosions?_

The reply took a while to come.

**Basement junction boxes**

**Too easy**

_Who are you?_

_Why are you helping me?_

**No one important**

**And because I need you**

**Or more like I need you to have access to CtOS**

_What?_

**Look we can talk all you want after we are done here**

**How long until your... whatever that thing is finishes with getting the access?**

“Thing?”  He checked the progression and saw it close to 80%.

_Maybe 2 minutes more_

**Yeah... not good**

_What?_

**They are coming back**

At that moment the lights came back “Shit” His day couldn't get worse.

**And they disconnected the elevators, so... no easy way out.**

Scratch that, it just got worse.

_How am I gonna get out now?_

The invasive software was almost done. He couldn't hear anything but he imagined the guards climbing up the stairs ready to deal with him.

**Well the only way left to go is up**

_We are on the seventh floor!_

A ping let him know the intrusion was finished, he tried it out locking and unlocking the door of the server room himself. The elevators didn't respond to his commands, Blume employees must have taken them out of their system.

He picked up the cord he had used to connect his profiler, going back to the service stairs and putting away the chair used to block it, he left it open in the hopes it would give him a few minutes if the guards thought he was still in the servers’ room.

From the top of the building he could barely make out the people walking down in the streets as he looked down from the side of it.  The strong wind made him take a step back in fear of losing his balance and falling to his death. There was no way down.

He strode back to the only door, already planning on how he was going to take his changes with the guards. His hand was about to take the handle when his profiler rang. With a groan he pulled it out.

**Where do you think you are going??!??!**

_How can you even know what I am doing?_

**Security camera on the front building**

He looked at the building but was unable to make out anything from this far away **.**

**But that doesn't matter**

**You cannot go back there!**

**They will fill you up with so much metal you won’t be able to pass the detectors at the airport!**

_What do you expect me to do?_

_There is no way down_

**Get to the west side of the building**

_Why should I?_

_I have been doing what you told me and look where I am_

**Because I need you alive, so trust me on this**

**And do it fast**

Rubbing his face in annoyance he gave up and moved to the west side of the building, there was nothing there.

_What am I supposed to be looking at?_

**Look at the building in front of you, yeah?**

**Jump to it**

_What?!_

**The building is only 6 stores tall, but the floors have higher ceilings so there is merely 5 feet height difference between both buildings, if you take a good running start you can make the jump**

_Are you out of your mind, I cannot make that jump!_

Looking down at the streets didn't help making him feel confident about this.

_I am not going to do this_

He couldn't take his eyes away from the ground. This was stupid, completely madness, he wasn't going to do it, there is no way.

**You have no other option**

**They are coming up**

**Are you doing it or not?**

“I can't do this” He turned away, taking out his cap and running his hand through his hair, the other one gripping tight to his phone as he kept looking at the messages, he couldn't do it, he just couldn't!

**If you don't jump now they will catch you!**

The scream of a guard telling the others to go to the roof was all the incentive he needed.

Turning around he ran as fast as he could. No time to second guess it.

There was a second were he thought he wouldn't make it, he had jumped too soon, or not fast enough, he was going to die.

And then he hit the concrete of the roof. Landing on his side, pain blooming on his shoulder from the impact, the momentum of the jump making him roll over before he stopped completely. His head hurt even though he hadn't hit it, or at least he hopes he hadn't.

He could feel something running down his cheek but there was no time to check, hurrying he hid behind one of the AC machines just in time to hear the guards arriving at the roof of the other building.

A few minutes later they gave up on the search.

Another day, another near death experience.

He should start considering retirement.

-

He arrived back at his Motel room early in the morning, shoulder still hurting from the fall. Maybe he should get that looked at... or he could ignore it like he always did.

On his way back he had stopped to test the access he had gained to the new CtOS system, it was limited, as expected, considering he still had to unlock the towers in the city. But for now he could look at people's profiles in the streets and take money when inside the unlocked zones, so there's that.

His body demanded rest, but there was something he had to do before that. With the new access codes retrieving the recording from the last kidnapping from the police servers was easier than ever.

It went pretty much like the others. A white van pulling out of the alley, and getting lost in the tunnel systems of Mad Mile minutes later. The pictures of the crime scene where not of much help either, the same scorch marks found in some of the tombs, but nothing else. He saved everything on his computer and stood up, ready to get that well deserved rest, when his phone ringed.

**Playing detective?**

He had not expected to hear from this unknown source this soon, thinking it had been a onetime occurrence, but maybe he could finally get the answers he needed.

_Will you finally tell me who you are?_

**I guess I owe you as much**

The screen blinked and now over the messages was an user name “GlitchInTheCrowd?” not the most originals of names.

_A username does not tell me much_

**I don't need you to know more**

_I could easily track you back_

**I would LOVE to see you try**

This person was too self-assured, either they were that good or an idiot. Most likely the later.

_Why did you help me then?_

**Eh, you look like fun**

_What? That's all?_

**Maybe, Maybe not**

**I don't really have to explain anything to you**

**I already told you, I needed you to have access to CtOS**

**You have them now**

**The “why” I am not sure if I should tell you**

After that none of his messages got a reply so he gave up, tossed the phone over the bed and went to take a shower.

As he went to sleep, now clean and bandaged he picked up the phone to see a new message.

**Oh and Mr. Pearce**

**I will contact you when I need you**

**After all, you owe me now**


	3. 01010011 01101111 01101100 01100100

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jordi is becoming Aiden's friend, I did not plan on that, oh well shit happens.  
> This chapter was hard for me, this is why is so short, but next one I am actually looking forward to writing.  
> Hope you all enjoy this.

“Well, what makes you think they are in your side?” Jordi sounded amused, almost giddy, it made Aiden thinks he was not being taken seriously.

He couldn’t believe that of all people in Chicago, he had decided on telling Jordi what had happened, and even worse, he had expecting some kind of help, but he needed a second opinion. His first idea had been to call T-Bone, but the hacker had gone off the grid once Blume came back, being left without other option he had contacted the only person left in the city which he could, kind of, trust.

Jordi had picked up after the first ring, thinking that Aiden had finally decided to come around and accept more of his fixer contracts, instead Aiden had spent a little over 3 hours explaining everything that had to do with his recent infiltration on Blume and the unknown help he had found there.

“I just feel like I owe them” the anonymous hacker had said so as well on his last messages, and in the following days, after a lot of thinking, he had been forced to accept the fact that they were right, without their help he would have not been able to get out of there alive.

There was silence on the other side of the line and when the reply finally came it was filled with something close to concern, unusual coming from Jordi out of all people “What do you know about them?”

“Nothing” the only thing he had was a username, but he didn't feel like sharing that with Jordi, he will not risk the fixer doing something reckless with the information.

“Exactly, you don't know a single thing about them, but they probably know a lot about you” He thought back to the way that person had talked about him, it definitely sounded as if they knew a lot of about him “What if they are a DedSec member? Or from Blume? It wouldn't put it above them to try and get in your good side, just so they can use you later”

“Like you did?” he couldn't help but point, after all Jordi had done exactly that. It felt kind of hypocrite of him to be warning Aiden about someone doing the same.

“Are you gonna be bitter about that forever?” the exasperation obvious on the fixers voice.

“Most likely”

“Why do I even bother” There was some noise on the line before Jordi continued talking “My point being, if you are set on working with this person you need a fallback plan”

“What do you propose?”

“Are you really asking? You're one of the best hackers I have meet, track them back! If you get some info about them, be it their name, age, address, work or whatever, they will no longer have the upper hand. You need to level the playing field, because right now they have all the cards in their hands, and that is not good for you my friend”

That was something he could do.

-

The tracking would be tricky, without full CtOS access it would take longer than normal, be bothersome and restrictive but there was really no other option.

He had made a short trip to the gun store, replenishing his ammo, and the pawn shop to get the necessary components to craft some lures and jam-coms. If what Jordi suspected was true, and this person was a member of DedSec or Blume, he would not make the mistake of going unprepared. He had been making too many mistakes recently.

Now he only needed to contact them.

_We need to talk_

His sister had always said he was bad at making small talk. He had never cared much about it, until now. A few minutes passed, where he thought maybe he should have started with something more friendly, before he got a reply.

**About what?**

Good, now he only needed the conversation to keep going for a while longer as his scanning software located the signal using the cellular towers in the city.

_How did you manage to hack into my phone?_

**I have my ways**

_So you're not going to tell me?_

**Not at all**

**:)**

Shit, he was really bad at this.

_It is quite annoying._

_You are one of the few people that have been able of such a thing._

_I cannot even start to figure out how you did it_

**You are so annoyed that someone is a step ahead of you**

**It is entertaining as heck**

**I haven't had this much fun in a while**

_Ahead of me? That’s taking it a bit far_

**You truly have no idea how much I know about you**

_Why don’t you tell me_

**Nah**

**Not yet**

**I still want to have some fun**

A ping made him look down at his laptop, the scan was completed and he had a location, with a grin he ended the conversation with some lie about having to leave for a fixer contract.

It was time to find that Glitch and debug it.

-

He looked up at the statue of an Eagle catching a fish, from far away it looked like any other metal statue but up close he could see it was made of scrap metal and mechanical parts, it was oddly familiar, memories of giant contraptions shooting and electrocuting his enemies came to his mind, and sure enough as he read the plaque on the base of the statue he confirmed his supposition.

**_“Art of T-Bone 1997”_ **

He had never known the hacker did normal, non-lethal, art.

The trail of the signal had brought him all the way to Pawnee, right where the statue is standing, it made no sense at all. He looked around at the people sitting on the decks of their homes and those walking down the street, a normal, plain and boring street.

Could it be that the Glitch was working from a laptop or mobile system? Maybe something similar to his profiler? If so it would be harder to track down, but not impossible.

That still left one question, why bring him here of all places? He looked up at the statue, not many people knew of his affiliation with T-Bone, he could count with the fingers of his hands those who did. How had this person found out? Could it be they were that good?

His phone ringed with a new message.

He was typing a reply as he pulled out his laptop and turned on the tracking software.

**Hey, when you’re done with that fixer contract I have something for you**

_What is it?_

**You replied fast!**

**Anyway, I might have something interesting for you to see**

**But I want it to be a surprise so you’ll have to wait**

_How mysterious_

_Why don’t you just tell me?_

**Relax old man**

**You’ll know soon enough**

His laptop pinged, the new location already showing on the map of his profiler. He replied back one last time and shut down his laptop, climbing back on the bike he had stolen and driving away.

-

People moved slowly, from a painting to a statue, some talked between each other, commenting on the beauty and style, while others contemplated on silence each piece.

He stood in front of a statue of the goddess Juno, or maybe a reproduction? Art was not one of his interests, but he could admit it was impressive.

The trip from Pawnee to the museum in The Loop had taken less than 40 minutes, as he arrived at the marked building of his map he was surprised to find himself here, but it didn’t stop him from buying a ticket and walking inside. This month the museum was dedicated to the ancient Rome. He had walked around, not too sure what he was looking for, there were many people with their phones outs, laptops were not allowed inside the building so he couldn’t be sure if any of the people inside were the ones he was looking for.

He finally gave up after an hour of walking around, even his profiler had not been of much help,  he could scan people faces and look for their basic data on Blume’s DB, but there was so much people around he couldn’t possible scan them all. 

This had been a waste of his time, he couldn’t even be sure if the Glitch was still here, they could have left before he arrived. He sat down, taking a minute to rest when his phone rang.

He sat straighter as he read the message.

**Beautiful art isn’t it?**

**I cannot believe they actually had this up on the museum**

**Ancient history is just so interesting**

_You led me here?_

**Bingo!**

God damn it, he had been played. He didn’t have his laptop with himself, he had to leave it at the entrance, instead he started to run the tracking software on his phone, it would take longer to locate the signal but it would have to do.

_So I guess you had the fun you wanted_

**Oh but this is still not over**

**Tell me Aiden, do you believe in Gods?**

He looked up at the painting above his head. A piece of paper under it let him know it was of the goddess Minerva.

_What does it matter?_

**Aww come on**

**Just answer me**

_I don’t, not on these, not on any other god like figure_

_I believe people made them up to explain what they couldn’t understand_

**Interesting**

_That’s all you have to say?_

_Well then_

_Do you believe in gods?_

**I do**

**But these are not gods**

_What do you mean?_

**There is still something else I want you to see**

_You didn’t answer me_

**That does not matter**

A ping alerted him the tracking was completed, he switched apps and sure enough there was a dot on the map pointing to the location of the Glitch. When he went back to the chat he was surprised by the next message.

**Is your tracking software done figuring out where I am right now?**

How had he put it? _Always a step ahead._ It did feel like so in that moment.

Standing up he walked out of the museum, picking up his laptop on the entrance. He walked past the bike he had used to get here and instead moved to one of the parked cars. With a tap on his profiler he deactivated the alarm and opened the doors.

As he started the car he noticed a new message.

**Come on Grandpa, you want to catch me don’t you?**

He put the phone down, grip tight on the steering wheel as he drove way over the speed limit. This time for sure he will get there on time to catch them, he wouldn’t be made a fool once again.

He ignored the ring of a new message coming from his profiler as he accelerated down the street.

**I wish you the best of luck**

-

God damn it all.

He sat down in one of the booths next to the window, a steaming cup of coffee on his hands. The Brewed Delight coffee shop he had been led to sat between an apartment building and a clothing store. The small place was full of college students and white collar workers, his face scan had not helped either, everyone here were normal, boring citizens.

He took a sip and cringed as it burned his tongue. Setting the paper cup down on the table he looked outside the window, across the street was one of the recently open Abstergo Entertainment stores, a giant sign promoting their next Helix console taking most of the wall next to the entrance. There was also some kind of pre-sale for a new game, something having to do with Pirates? He wasn’t really interested on that.

Why was he here? He had spent all the way here trying to find any connection between the places he had been lead to, thinking it might be some twisted game for the Glitch, some sort of way of letting him know something without actually saying it out front, but he couldn’t figure it at all.

First was T-Bones statue, that might have to do with the incident of last year, but the museum had nothing to do with him, he couldn’t remember anything remotely important happening there, and he definitely had nothing to do with the ancient romans, and now this, a simple and boring coffee shop.

He looked once again at the Abstergo store. The conversation he had with Jordi weeks ago coming to his mind.

_Tell me Aiden, what are the probabilities of this all happening at the same time? A big corporation like Abstergo opens its new building in the city, a company known for its technological advances years ahead of anything else, just at the same time that a contract comes for you to retrieve some data that hints at some kind of underground society behind the reins of the biggest News channel in the city._

_And then the kidnappings that seem impossible, all of this happening right before Blume miraculously comes back from bankruptcy._

What if he was right? What if Abstergo was involved on everything that had been going on around the city? It did seem unlikely, he had made a bit of research and, aside from some problems a while back about some water contamination, there was nothing suspicious about the company. Thinking about it, it made more sense to put the blame on Blume considering their background.

He just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something, some piece of information that would tie everything nicely together.

His phone rang, with a sigh he pulled it out, ready to see a new taunting message from the Glitch.

It wasn’t from them.

Jordi had forwarded him a fixer contract, the date suggesting it had just been put out this morning. He thought he had made it clear that he was not taking more contracts from Jordi just yet, the fixer had been strangely accommodating and hadn't tried to get him any since, then why would he be sending this now? Just to check he opened the attached document.

His blood ran cold as he looked at his face staring at him from his phone screen. Following it was his name and other related information any fixer would need to track him down. At the bottom sat the price, a six figure number, one of the highest paying contracts he had seen in his life.

Oh this was bad.

“Explain to me who the hell you angered to get such a high price on your stupid righteous head?!” 

Jordi's voice was too high, pulling the phone away from his ear, he waited until the screams stopped. The call had came minutes after he had finished reading the document he had received.

“Want me to make you a list?” he replied after Jordi had calmed down.

“Oh hahaha how funny. Why don’t we make jokes while half the city is after your head!”

He tossed the cup in the trash as he walked out of the coffee store. He could feel a headache forming as he walked down the street.

“Jordi, calm down, I have been out all day and no one has attacked me” he looked around, making sure no one suspicious was following him as he made his way to where he had parked his car.

“Oh sure, there’s nothing to worry, is not like they have snipers and bombs right? Right! Let's just paint a bull's eye on your back!”

“Jordi, are you... worried?” That was something he could have never expected from the older male, after all they weren't exactly friends, more like reluctant coworkers.

“Worried? Me?” the sarcasm was so thick on his voice Aiden couldn't help but grin, that was the  Jordi he remembers and know how to deal with “You’re an investment Aiden, and I take care of my investments, so yes I am worried!”

He could already see his car in the distance. Any other of the parked in the street could have worked, but this one was a Papavero, and he didn't get to drive one of those that often. There was frantic typing coming from Jordi's side of the call.

“Oh oh” That did not sound promising.

“What now?” He was standing next to the car, with the door already open.

“Well, someone just posted your current location, so I give you five minutes before you find yourself with a gun pointed at your face”

He was no longer paying attention at Jordi. He had noticed something coming down the street, approaching at an alarmingly fast speed, way faster than the marked limit. He was still standing there, like an idiot, as the bike took a sharp turn, sliding on the asphalt before stopping completely about 15 feet away from him.

They were staring at each other. The first one to move was the biker, who Aiden assumed to be a fixer, as they pulled from their jacket a sub machine gun, he barely managed to avoid being hit by dropping to his knees.

“Shit!” He crawled into the car. The passenger seat window broke, glass raining on him as he tried to turn the car on. When the motor finally came alive he hit reverse without looking back, taking with him a newspaper stand. He will worry about that once he doesn’t have someone trying to kill him.

Finally sitting straight he changed to first and drove away, the bike giving chase second later.

“I would suggest that you run” the call had still been connected through all of it.

“Jordi, I'll call you later” the back window broke with the second round of bullets aimed his way, taking a sharp left he drove into the main street, if he could get to the highway he might be able to lose them.

“Good Luck, oh and I would look out for more fixers if I were you” the call disconnected in time for him to see a car coming at him, someone hanging out of the passenger seat with a gun.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

He turned right managing to avoid the collision, but not some bullets hitting the car, thankfully the tires seemed to be fine. He could never keep the nice cars.

If he keeps going this way he will end stuck in traffic, there had to be some way to get to the highway. He looked through the rear view, the car had joined the bike on the chase.

If he turned right now. “Fuck” there were two more cars there stopping the traffic on both lanes as 4 men carrying guns were standing around. When they saw him they took aim and started to shot.

You know what, fuck it. He drove straight ahead, people jumping out of his way as he drove over the stairs to the mall. If there is no road he will make his own.

It was enough to lose his pursuers, for now. People were jumping out of the way of the car that should not be inside the mall, when he saw the exit he accelerated, the light of the sun blinding him momentarily as he drove back into the street, and right into a police car.

His day couldn't get worse.

The police officer, who thankfully had not been inside the car, was screaming at him to pull his hands up when the biker drove out of the mall, sub machine gun on his hand. The officer turned to them, gun held up, he didn't get to do more before he was hit with a round of bullets. The distraction gave Aiden enough time to hit reverse, taking with him the biker that was yet to turn his way.

One down.

The police officer was still alive and giving the alert to the headquarters. Aiden knew he would not make it, the blood already pooling around his body. This was a life he had not intended on taking, but he didn't have time to regret anything, the remaining cars were already turning the corner.

He drove in reverse, eyes fixed on the rear view and not the 3 black cars that were getting closer, when he got to the crossroad he hit the brakes, turning sharp and making a perfect 180, well, almost perfect, he might have took down one of the street lights, no one would notice.

The shots to the back of his car made him hit the accelerator, no time to be concerned about public property.

As he drove in between cars he took out his phone, connecting to the police radio. Oh it was bad alright, there were 3 patrols already en route to his location, and the others where setting up barricades to try and stop him from escaping.

He barely avoided hitting the fountain in the park he had used as a shortcut. All the exits to the highway were already blocked, he was not getting out of this one easy.

“Turn left”

The feminine voice surprised him, distracting him enough to hit a mailbox as he took a turn into an alley.

“What the fuck” he looked around trying to find from where the voice had come, his profiler was still connected to the police radio.

“Keep driving straight” he looked at the panel, the GPS was turned on, when had that happened? He turned it off as he left the alley, taking a left.

“I said go straight” he looked down, the GPS back on.

“What the...” he took a right, finding himself face to face to one of the police cars, he had to drive over the walkway to be able to pass by them, some more bullets finding their way into the side of his car.

“Look I don't have time to explain”

“Glitch” it was not a question, there was only one person he could think of that would be able to hack into something as weird and unusual as a car GPS system.

“That's the name you gave me? Ugh, so lame” oh yeah that was definitely them.

The bridge in front of him started to rise, he hit the accelerator, the car flying over the opening and landing hard on the other side of the water canal.

“Did you do this?”

“What?”

“Did you set the price on my head?” It was the only thing that made sense, had he once again been betrayed? Not that he trusted on the anonymous person, but it did feel like that.

The silence stretched for a while as he drove through an alley trying to lose the current pursuer police car.

“What the heck” the voice of the GPS system was emotionless, but he could imagine just fine the anger on the other's voice “Look this is not the time, we will talk about your paranoia at a later point, for now take a right here”

He took a left, on the next corner was one of the cars that had started this chase and he had to drive through them with his head down to avoid being hit by a bullet.

“I said right”

“You are the only one that knew where I was!” he made a 180, driving back to the car, running over one of the men trying to get back into it and taking with him the passenger door “How else could they have found me that fast if you didn't gave them my location”

“I don't think we have time for this”

The driver was not too happy to see his partner being taken down, he started to shot at Aiden.

“Of course not, we don't want your fixers to lose sight of me!”

He keep going down the street, there had to be somewhere he could hide.

“Will you shut up, I did not put the hit on your stupid face, I am trying to save you here”

If only he could control the garage doors, but that part of the system was still offline.

“Just do as I say and take the next left”

He keeps going straight, head turning from one side to another, trying to find somewhere to hide.

“Are you for fucking real?”

“I am not risking it, you could be leading me straight to them or the police”

Just as he said this he saw ahead a line of police cars blocking the road. He hit the brakes and took a right, going back into the alleys. There had to be another way out.

“Oh, I so don't have time for your bullshit”

He tried to turn left as he pulled out of the alleys but the hand wheel would not turn.

“What the hell”

The wheel turned to the right on its own, he had to hold himself to the panel to don't hit the divers door. He tried hitting the brakes but nothing happened. The gear shift wouldn't move either.

“Stop!”

He tried the door but it wouldn't open, meanwhile the car keep on turning, braking and accelerating on its own.

“Just shut up and let me take you to safety”

A new round of shots from behind made him bend forward, holding his head with his hands between his knees as more bullets hit the car, breaking the front windshield.

“You don't want to do what I say? Fine, then I'll do it myself”

He risked a look behind and saw the 3 cars coming his way, 2 men were hanging from the passenger sides, aiming their guns at him.

“How is this keeping me safe?!”

The car took another turn and he had to hold to the seat to don't go flying into the passenger seat. They were driving straight to a police car.

“You'll see”

At the last second the car took another turn. They were now being chased not only by the fixers but also the police, this definitely didn't feel any safer than when he had been driving.

They pulled out into the apartment zone of the city, the car accelerated, straight into one of the buildings.

“Oh shit!”

He closed his eyes, expecting the hit, instead the car brake, turned and drifted to the left, finally losing his grip on the seat he went flying into the passenger seat, hitting his head on the door handle. That would hurt later.

He couldn't see the pursuers, but it wouldn't be for long, they had to hide somewhere. He was trying to think of something when the car turned once again, right into a garage, the door closing down behind them.

He stayed quiet as the police cars and fixers drove by them, the sound of the sirens fading in the background as he sat there, rubbing his forehead and taking deep breaths.

His profiler continued playing the feed from the police radio frequency, after 5 minutes the police changed target to the fixers, 10 minutes after that, giving up on the chase entirely.

He was safe. Somehow he had gotten out of that, thanks to the Glitch. He glared at the GPS screen on the panel.

“Why are you helping me? You said it was because of CtOS, that you need my help, but seeing you do all of this” he raised his hands before pulling them down with a groan “taking control over my car, knowing exactly where everyone is, it doesn't seem like you even need said access” he bend forward, resting his head on the panel, rubbing his face with both hands “Then why?”

“I can't say”

The burning anger came in a flash, hitting the panel with closed fists and teeth grinding in rage.

“Bullshit you can't” He replied back, low and dangerous, he was done with trying to be patient “I am here putting my life in danger, the least you can do is answer me”

“Fine. Truth is I cannot go out, I can't risk it, there is people out there looking for me, people that would do anything to destroy me”

The anger was still there, but at least now he could think better after finally getting a straight answer.

“Blume?”

The laugh sounded weird coming from the emotionless voice of the GPS system.

“Blume is the least of my worries. No, these people are way worse. If they ever know I am still here... it won't end well for me. You wanted to know why I contacted you, so here's the truth, you're a public figure, people see you out in the streets every day. You walk down the streets, anytime, anywhere, and no one questions it. I am not able to do that, so I needed someone that could”

That much was true, after everything that had happened last year everyone was now used to see him around the streets. But he was not the only one.

“In that case you could have choose any fixer” fixers had a way to blend as well, unless you were looking for them you would never notice whom of the people out in the streets was one of them “Or you could have contacted DedSec, they would do anything to get their hands on CtOS”

“I don't have the kind of cash to hire a fixer smart enough to do what I want. And DedSec is a wild card, their ranks are fucked up, their supposed leaders are shit at doing their work, they cannot even keep in check their own people. It would have been like playing Russian roulette, some might have helped me, and some would have betrayed me for the right price”

“And I wouldn't?”

“Oh you would, but I have investigated you, you have morals, messed, wrapped, fucked up, but morals none the less” somehow that made him laugh, this was what Jordi always said about him “I cannot say that I trust you, but is less likely that you will stab me in the back”

He finally sat back, resting against the seat, letting it all sink in.

“Let's say that I believe you. What is there for me? What do I get out of this all?”

“Oh please, you saw what happened back there, it is not only Blume you have to worry about, are you telling me you can fight everyone that comes for you on your own? You need my help if you're planning on, not only infiltrating Blume, but staying alive”

“You didn't exactly fight” he couldn't help but point out.

“And yet we wouldn't be having this conversation if I hadn't helped? look, all I need is for you to get full access to CtOS, there is something in their servers I need to retrieve, but they are too well protected, I cannot access them from the outside, I need you in”

“So it is data you're behind?” there was a hint of doubt on his voice, Glitch noticed, because he hurried to explain.

“Nothing like Lucky Quinn, nothing so fucked up” It shouldn't be so easy to believe them, but Aiden found himself doing it anyway “I am not planning on taking over the city, what I want is more personal, something I really do not want anyone else to have”

“They have something on you?” If so, this sounded more like what he had done for T-Bone before, deleting his information from Blume and allowing him to live a relatively normal life.

“Kind of, but that's all I need, once you get me that I will leave you alone”

“So let's review, you want to help me get the CtOS access so I can go in their main servers and get your data back?”

“Exactly”

He processed it all, on the surface it didn't sound so bad, but there were still many questions without an answer.

“Give me time to think about it”

“Sure, but the sooner you decide the better”

The decision was already made, he only needed to make one call.

-

It was late at night when he finally walked into his motel room, he had took longer on his way back, making sure no one was tailing him.

He took out his profiler, tapping one of the few contacts registered on it and waiting for the other side to answer as he pulled out his jacket.

“So you're still alive? Good to know” Jordi didn't sound amused.

“I had some help” He looked in the mirror and the lack of blood on his clothes, at least this time he had not been shot.

“That anonymous hacker?”

“Yes, but I am not calling about that” he sat down on the bed, starting to pull out his shoes, he was so damn tired.

“What do you need?” No nonsense Jordi, he liked this Jordi, why couldn't he always be like this?

“Who put the hit on me?”

There was silence on the other side, he took this time to pull out his sweater and shirt, lying down on the bed

“What makes you think I know?” Jordi said.

“Please Jordi, there is no better fixer in this city than you, if anyone knows it is you”

“Flattering will take you nowhere. Fine, I did made some research, but you won't like it”

“What?”

“It was a second hand”

Groaning he rolled face down on the bed. “Are you sure?”

“Oh yes”

A second hand, a hired person to put a hit on someone. They were unusual, fixers didn't care about anything but the pay, as such they did not question who was paying, most of the times they didn't even check that when accepting a job, but sometimes, people in high positions of power or big corporations would make use of second hands, it provided an extra layer of security. The second hands where usually secretive as hell, and would rarely talk about those who had hired them.

“So there is no lead at all?”

“I didn't say that”

“Explain”

“First, they used a second hand, meaning they need to keep the whole thing as secret as possible, probably because they're either a public figure or a corporation. Second, the price they put on you was extremely high, in all my life as a fixer I had only seen such a sum maybe once or twice. This cuts down the list of contractors by a lot”

“Not everyone has the money to pay that kind of cash” he finished, rolling once again to look up at the ceiling, lost on his thoughts.

“Exactly”

“Thanks Jordi that's all I needed to know”

“It's a pleasure. I hope soon you will be calling to actually take some of my jobs, I have missed working with you”

“I'll think about it”

The call ended after that. He looked at the cracking paint of the ceiling for a while longer before turning off the light and getting under the covers. Before he fell asleep he send his answer to the Glitch.

_I'm in_.


	4. 01001110 01100001 01101101 01100101

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I had planned for this story to be completed by the release of Watch_Dogs_2... well that is obviously not going to happen. I will do finish this, out of spite more than anything from the fact that there are nearly not enough stories with Desmond and Aiden as main characters.
> 
> This chapter is slightly longer than previous ones and we are finally moving forward with the plot! There are lot of things Aiden doesn't know about just yet, truths that will shake his world, but for now, there's a name.
> 
> Thanks to everyone that takes the time to read this, and sorry it takes to long to update.

There have been reports of criminal activity around the old Rossi-Fremont public housing complex. As some of you might remember, just last year this building complex was the center of operation of the Black Viceroys, a gang specialized in extortion, bribery, kidnapping, and cybercrime. After their leader disappeared it was believed the gang had disbanded.

Could this new peak on criminal activity in the zone be explained by the return of the Black Viceroys? Or is this a rival gang finally claiming control of the zone? The police is already looking into the case, but with their forces concentrating in the kidnapping incidents we are not sure how long it will take for these incidents to be looked into.

-

The computer emitted a ping as the software completed updating. Aiden picked up the small device still connected to the port and turned it around, lips forming a tight line as he noticed a wire with a weak connection. He reached for one of the multiple tools on his desk when his phone pinged with a new message.

**What are you doing?**

He was no longer surprised to know that no matter where he was the Glitch would always be able to find him. He put down the phone, reaching once again for the tool he needed to fix the wire. Closing the device he waited to see the green light, signaling a connection had been established, to turn on. Only once it did he picked up his phone to type a reply.

_I have been working on improving my voice modifier software._

_Now it is connected to my ear piece._

_In theory everything you write will be spoken to me with the last voice I have recorded._

He opened the voice app, making sure the connection had in fact being made. A new message arrived as he got ready to test it.

**Basically a glorified Siri**

It was a poor comparison but it made him laugh, maybe later, when he had free time, he would make it sound just like Siri to mess up with the Glitch.

_Not exactly._

The headpiece was a small device securely attached to his ear, he didn't want it falling out while in a chase. It should be able to stay on for a few hours, needing recharge once per day, hard to identify even harder to interfere with.

**Why go through all the problem of setting this?**

_I have been thinking_

**Wow**

He decided to ignore that, the amount of sass he had been getting from the Glitch was overwhelming.

_Communicating through messages could present a problem if we found ourselves in a kind of situation similar to the one last week._

_You don't trust me and I don't trust you._

_But we need some way to communicate, and instead of asking you to call me, like a normal person, I did this._

A call could be easily tracked back, even if it wasn't, just the background sounds could give him an idea of the location of the person calling, he knew the Glitch would not risk it, because had it been him he wouldn't risk it either, so he had come up with this idea.

**You did this for me?**

_And for myself_

_I don't want to be shot at while I am looking down at my phone screen_

He couldn't be sure, but he liked to imagine the Glitch was laughing on the other side of the line.

-

_All police officers in the zone of the Wards report to the Defus Tru Hunting Supplies store. There has been a report of a kidnapping happening in the area._

“Finally! I was getting bored of doing nothing”

Aiden should have considered that the last and only voice recorded on his software was that of the girl in the reception of the New Horizon apartments. He did not know the Glitch's sex, but it made him uncomfortable to hear the high pitched voice each time the other talked, it was too... cheerful for his taste.

“We should get there before the media”

For the past few days the city had been quiet. After having tested the voice software, Glitch and himself had decided to go down the tunnels on Mad Mile, see if they could find how or where the van that had been seen in each kidnapping had disappeared. There was no luck so far.

The tunnels were not a complicated system, pretty straight forward, but there were many doors impossible to open, numerous places where illegal betting games or black market deals happened, it had ultimately lead them nowhere.

This new report might bring them back in the right path.

“What? You didn't brush your hair today? Don't want them to get your bad side on camera?”

“Shut up”

It was different having these small banters, used to working alone as he was.

“Let's just move” he said at least as he accelerated through the streets of Chicago.

By the time he had arrived the police had circled the crime scene and were busy preventing people from getting close. Now that CtOS was back online it was harder to access the cameras if he had not unlocked the district's CtOS tower. But the Glitch could, if only for a short period of time, he would have to leave the work to them this time.

“Can you get a picture of what's going on in the side of the store?”

“If there's a camera nearby, yes, but this zone is not exactly the most secure one”

The Wards, one of the districts of Chicago, was characterized by cheap housing, low-grade shops and relatively high crime rates. It wasn't a surprise that most security systems on the district were either offline or destroyed by the residents, who didn't want the police to intervene in what happens on their streets.

“Found one!”

He moved away from the already forming crowd, Glitch had sent a live feed to his phone and he could see the crime scene perfectly.

“Uh..”

There was... something off.

“What?”

“Can you zoom in to the back wall?” the camera moved and he could see now the wall “Are those, bullet holes?” he couldn't be sure from the grainy feed of the outdated camera, but something told him those were definitely bullet holes in the store side wall, which didn't fit, in all the previous scenes there hadn't been guns involved.

“Looks like it” the camera moved again, this time focusing on the tabs the police had used to mark clues. There were empty bullet cartridges, blood, a piece of torn cloth and an earring.

It didn't fit.

“This is wrong”

“What do you mean?”

“There had never been guns involved, and this, it looks messy”

Bullet holes, blood, that earring, the piece of cloth, too much evidence left behind.

“Maybe this time they had a hardest time capturing their target?”

It could be that, it still felt like he was missing something.

“We should head back” he started to walk away, cutting through the crowd and to the car parked around the corner.

“What? Why? We are not done here”

What was it? What had him worried? What had he forgotten?

“There's something that's bothering me, I need to find what it is”

-

Some days he hatted when he was right.

“Shit, how did I ignore this?”

“What?”

All the reports from the police were projecting on the wall of the hotel room.

“All this time and I never even thought about checking”

“Aiden?”

The pictures from all the crime scenes took most of the wall.

“I was so worried, so busy trying to find who had done it I didn't even care”

“Are you going to let me in on what you're thinking?”

Standing up he took his jacket out, throwing it away. His hands were shaking as he paced back and forth on the small room, the anger he felt, at the kidnappers, at the police, at himself was making it impossible for him to stay calm “All this fucking time and I never noticed!”

“Aiden!” the loud shriek on his ear made him finally stop “Tell me what the hell is going on”

Taking a deep breath he tried to make sense of the mess that was his mind at the moment “When I started to look into the kidnappings” he finally spoke, voice low and shaky, unsure of how to explain it “I was too worried about finding out where the people had been taken... I let some things slip” shame at having to admit his mistakes almost made him stop from talking, almost “I concentrated too much on where and who and not how”

Looking back up at the wall still projecting the reports and data he had acquired he dug his nails on his palm, the pain grounding him in the now “I got a bad feeling when you showed me the feed of the alley, the perfectly clear view of the crime scene, how we could see everything... Never once did I bother to check if some camera had recorded the kidnapping itself. Every single time I just keep going forward, ignoring everything else but my worry over whoever had been taken” it was a foolish mistake, he should have known better.

“So? You just need to check the recordings right?”

He made it sounds so easy “There's nothing” he went back to his computer, closing the windows showing the reports and opening instead a video recording “Not all the crime scenes had a camera pointing to them, but those that had didn't record a single thing” on the wall was projected the feed of one of the previous kidnappings “Or to be more precise, they weren't even online. There is a gap, the feed jumps 1 hour, always 1 hour around the time the kidnapping took place”

One second the video showed an empty alley late at night, the next the same alley, looking almost identical if not for the few clues here and there pointing to a fight.

“Shit”

“It wasn't edited, is not as if they took the feed and cut out the part they didn't want. No, the camera was turned off”

This was quality work, this was something not everyone could pull off, to be able to turn off the cameras you would need full access to CtOS, it was not as simple as creating a black out, they targeted a single feed out of many in the system. He took another deep breath before continuing.

“Each kidnapping was planned to the very last detail, except tonight”

He brought up a new video on the projector.

“This time, there is a recording”

On screen a young girl, probably on her twenties, was seen walking down the alley. Her head down looking at her phone screen, she had not seen the two men coming. The two thugs walked straight to her, holding her by the arms and pulling her to them. She had fought back, the poor thing had probably taken a self-defense class, Aiden could see it in the way she tried to turn and twist her body to get her hands free, in how she tried to kick them in the groin or bite their hands, it was everything he had seen his sister learning years ago when she had decided she needed a way to protect herself, when she had decided she didn't want to rely on her brother for everything. In the video one of the men had punched the girl in the face, the other holding her by the hair, but she had not stood down, fighting back with all she had.

A third man appeared on screen, pulling a gun he shoot trice to the side wall of the gun store. There was short lived relief at knowing the bullet holes he had seen on the alley had not hurt anyone. The girl stopped moving at that moment, Aiden knew what the sound of a gun could do to you if you had never heard it before, the fear, the knowledge that you were defenseless, unable to do anything, it would freeze you. The two men, taking advantage of her momentary paralysis, had twisted her arms back, shoving her on the back of a SUV and drove away.

Aiden stopped the video there.

The silence after was too much, the weight of his mistake making him blurt out the first thing that came to his mind “The Black Viceroys did it”

“Wait what? How do you know?”

He replayed the video, pausing on the moment they had pushed the girl into the black and white SUV.

“That paint detail, they always use the same colors, it's the way they identified one another” he could remember being chased by cars painted exactly like this one, there was no doubt on his mind of who was the owner of that SUV.

“But... Didn't you kill their leader?”

“Someone must have stepped up as the new boss, it doesn't matter who, but the fact that they're back is worrisome” he glared at the screen, hands balled up and mouth set on a tight line, as the video continued to loop, the white and black SUV always the point of his attention “They must be the ones behind the kidnappings”

“Wait, wait, wait! You cannot be sure of that. Didn't you say that this crime scene was different? Messier?”

“Yes, but you said it, they must have made a mistake” he stood up, picking up his jacket from the floor and his phone from the desk, intent on leaving at once, there was so much to do.

“Aiden stop, think about it. All previous crime scenes were clean, perfectly planned deals” he pulled a bag from under the bed, taking some of the cash he had stored there, he needed to refill his ammo and get some hardware parts “How would a street gang be able to orchestrate that kind of a hit?”

“You don't know them like I do. Everyone thinks they were just a group of thugs that had got together to terrorize the city, but the ones at the top, the real ones in charge, were all ex-military, they have the training, and would have no problem finding a way to get the necessary resources”

“You have to think this through Aiden”

“Why are you fighting me on this?!”

“Because it makes no sense!”

“How can you say that? This!” he pointed at the wall where the projector was still looping the recording “This is the first lead we have got in days, we finally have visual proof of who is behind the kidnappings!”

“A kidnapping, one!” he glared at the wall, hands shaking. Why couldn't the Glitch understand? They finally had a clue, they could move from here, and even if it turned to be a wrong lead at least they would be doing something, helping someone.

“That girl is out there” his voice was strangely calm as he spoke “She is scared and confused, asking herself why her? Why now? Are you telling me you don't want to help her?” He couldn't tear his eyes away from the video, the images projected mixing with the ones from his past, from a lifetime ago, a car accident that was not so much an accident, a little girl, her dear niece Lena, losing her life, his fault “Even if this doesn't have to do with the other kidnappings, even if it is just another dead end, will you let her suffer for it?”

There was no reply, with a final look at the projection he turned off the laptop and walked to the door.

“I am doing this, be it with your help or not”

“Aiden...” He stopped, one hand on the door knob “I’ll help”

The relief he felt at those words was instant. Aiden knew that without the Glitch help he might have not come back from this alive.

“Thank you”

There was work to be done, a girl to save and a criminal organization to take down, just another day on his life.

-

The gun shop in the Wards wasn't the most beautiful establishment in town, but it had everything you would need if you're going out in a hunting trip, or taking down a local gang, same thing. After having replenished his ammo, Aiden took a moment to look through the store's contents. On one of the shelves a Spec Ops Goblin catch his attention, he had not seen one of these on a while, the silenced assault rifle was a weapon not usually available at your local gun store.

“What a beauty” Glitch's voice stopped him halfway to picking up the weapon.

“What is it?” he lowered his hand, stepping back, but with his eyes still glued to the rifle, oh he really wants that riffle.

“Behind you” finally looking away from the temptation of running his hands over the riffle he turned around “see that knife on the second row of the display? that's a beautiful hunting knife, man I would love to have one of those” the blade of the knife looked positively dangerous, but surrounded by all these high tech weapons Aiden could have easily ignored it if the Glitch had not pointed it out.

“A Knife” he stepped closer, taking a look at the other blades on display “Don't you think it is a bit old fashioned?” he picked up a smaller knife from the bottom row, it was too light, the blade too thin, it wouldn't hold long. It was the kind used for scaring people away than actually causing damage.

“You don't understand. A blade can be the deadliest weapon if you know how to use it” he put it down and took one of the bigger ones from the top row, this one was too heavy, it felt awkward on his hand, he wouldn't be able to wield it during a fight. He put it down as well.

“And you do?” he didn't believe the question to be too personal, but he craved any kind of information he could get of just who the Glitch was.

“Not one of these, but I did use something similar once. If I wanted to get somewhere without being detected I would totally go for one of these” It felt like there was a story behind that, but he wouldn't risk asking anything, they didn't know each other well enough to start sharing tragic backstories.

He reached for the one Glitch had pointed out first, and oh wow, it felt right. Not too heavy or too light, the hold perfect on his hand, he turned it one way and another, one sided blade with a serrated back to cut ropes, it looked strong enough to withstand a rough handling “What about a silenced gun? Wouldn't that get the work done the same way?” he took out one glove and tested the sharpness, as expected from a display weapon it was dull, but with a bit of work it would be sharp as a razor.

“A gun runs out of ammo in the middle of a fight and what good would it do you? Nah I would rather have one of these beauties”

He put down the weapon, intent on leaving the store but he stopped at the doors, with a sigh turned back and walked to the knife display once more.

“Are you going to buy it?” somehow the smugness of the Glitch was recognizable through the voice software.

“Shut up”

-

Getting access to the Wards' CtOS tower had been easier than expected.

Aiden had been prepared for a fight with the guards, but the Glitch had suggested to try and go at it stealthy, hacking into the security feeds from the outside, and from there find their way into the building jumping from camera to camera until they got to the main server. He had to give it to the Glitch, it had been a good plan.

And here he was now, in front of the old Rossi-Fremont complex.

A year had not been enough time for the place to change much. The 3 uncompleted towers loomed over the smaller houses of the neighborhood, pieces of concrete and trash littering the surrounding lawn.

“Are you sure about this?” the Glitch asked as Aiden parked behind the complex.

“Yes”

He made his way to the right side of the building, to the small parking lot in between two of the towers, if his memory was not failing him, from there he could get inside without being detected.

He jumped the wire fence behind the main office of the parking lot, staying low behind a block of cement, carefully he looked over his hiding place to check for guards, but there was none in sight. A year ago there had been a much tighter security, guards with guns on their belts, some members wearing tactical armor and wielding high-power automatic weapons, snipers on top of the abandoned construction, all of them making sure no one outside of the gang would even get close to the place.

“This is too easy”

“Isn't that a good thing?”

“Maybe” how did that saying go? Too good to be true. With no risk on sight there was no reason for being so careful, giving up on it he stood up and walked straight to the main door of the central building. It opened without problem, only helping to make his worry grow, this was unusual.

Inside the lobby of the building the lights were on and the elevator worked just right, it made him sick.

“I don't feel good about this”

“Why?”

He couldn't explain it, something just didn't fit. If the Black Viceroys were truly back, one would have expected at least they would protect their headquarters better, not leave the door open for anyone to walk in.

As the elevator went up he wondered just who could be their new leader? How many of them were there? Maybe their number was smaller? Maybe they couldn't spare people to protect the lower floors and concentrated on the top? Would Iraq's servers still be functional at the top floor? Or are they using this just as storage? To keep in the people who had been kidnapped?

“But what are they doing with them?” there had not been ransom asked or any kind of political play to try and gain something, in all this time not a single word. But they wouldn’t be doing it just for the heck of it, could they?

Or maybe they were using them, human traffic, prostitution, it wouldn't be the first time he encountered something like this. The face of the girl appeared on his mind and he could only pray that they would be fast enough to save her.

As he walks out of the elevator he saw some gun holes on the walls surrounding the rails looking down to the lobby. Are they from way back when he fought here? Or from a recent fight between the gang and someone else, the police? Another gang? Each other? The fact that the place is empty leaves a bad taste on his mouth. Just where the heck are them?

“Question, why didn't we go all the way up to the last floor?” The Glitch asked as Aiden made his way to the stairs leading to the next floor.

“The elevator doesn't go up further, the structure was never completed”

Using the collapsed wall on the other side of the room he climbs up to the next floor. He walks around the railing, down the aisle and to the only open door on his left. From there he could already make out the sound of people talking.

There were 3 floors left, a year ago 2 had been open for the people living there, a kind of home for the gang members, the top floor had been off limits, reserved for the leaders of the group, it had been Iraq's main headquarters, for him and his ex-military friends.

At the back of the building, behind secured doors, had been located Iraq's servers, containing all the information he had acquired to blackmail the rich and powerful people of the city, on Lucky Quinn's call. The floor plan should not have changed much in only a year, with this in mind he pulled up his mask, unnecessary considering almost everyone in city could recognize him with just a glance at his cap, and took out his silenced gun, making sure the secure was off.

The next floors would be the hardest, there should be people mingling around and it'll take considerably longer to cross without calling attention. He had not planned for a stealthy takeover. He had been expecting more of a fight downstairs, the IEDs and frag grenades on his belt should have been used to call the attention of the people inside the building, force them out so he could take them down with his MP-9mm sub machine gun, now he was forced to go into the building, without any idea what was waiting for him.

To begin with, he doesn't believe he has enough ammo of the silenced gun to deal with all the thugs, and he couldn't risk using any explosive or his other gun, they could decide instead of confronting him to flee the place, and take with him the kidnapped people.

“What are we waiting for?”

“Nothing” staying low he made his way next to the door, kneeling behind it and risking a glance.  There are two men talking there, one sitting with his back to Aiden, looking down at his phone, the second one a bit further away on the next room, sitting on the half collapsed wall of a bathroom,  looking through a magazine. Both men are talking with each other. To the right of the first man is a cement block, on top of it he can see a laptop, that will come in handy.

It takes him seconds to hack the laptop, using it's camera to spy further into the room.

At the back of the room is a small kitchen tucked on the corner, on the other side a sofa takes most of the empty space, on top of it another man is resting, head going up and down at the rhythm of the music coming from the sound system on the table next to him. Why are they so relaxed? Shouldn't they be on guard? Well, whatever the reason he won't hesitate to take advantage of their lack of security.

Another glance through the door confirms the men in the first room are still distracted. He aims, taking down the magazine man with a head shot, the second man, the one resting on the crates jumps up at the sound of his companion falling, but before he can do anything Aiden jumps over the crates bringing down the man with him, a hit to the head with his baton dealing with him.

The steps of the third man are coming closer, probably alerted by the sound of the first man falling, Aiden rushes to hide behind the door from where the man will walk in, the thug curses as he sees the fallen body of the first man and walks in, gun pointed up to the door leading to the stairs, a hit to the back of the head has the man down on his knees, another one to the face makes him fall down, a third one to the back of his neck leaves him unconscious.

He moves down the aisle, around the sofa and to the only door in the back room.

“God, can't you like, keep your phone out? I wanted to look how you took them down”

It takes him a moment to realize why the Glitch wants this, he must be able to see through Aiden's  camera feed as long as he keeps his hacking software running, once he turned it off they must have been left in the dark.

“Sorry, you'll need to stay put for a while”

“Amazing” he needs to find a way to add emotions to the voice software because that must have been filled with so much sarcasm.

As he walked through the door he found himself on an small aisle, a demolished wall to his left, wires hanging down from the ceiling, if he remembers right there should be a gaming room there, some consoles and pool tables.

With his gun raised he steps in, but there's no one there. The games are turned on, lighting up the place, he starts to move forward when someone comes out from the side, a second of surprise before they reach for the gun at their belts, Aiden aims and shots, he hits him on the shoulder, not enough to put them down for good, but it gives him the time need to get closer, a hit with his baton leaving the man unconscious.

He kneels behind a turn over slot machine, there's the sound of someone rushing into the place, he cannot see them but hears the moment they notice their comrade on the floor, he stays put waiting for the man to be close enough to stands up, focused on his target, and shot. The body falls back, blood pouring out of his head and into the dirty floor.

He waits, gun up and ready, when the seconds pass an nothing happens slowly he lowers the gun. He takes a look around the place, trying to find anything of use. He walks to the back of the room,  where the pool table lies under the yellowing light of an old bulb, before going to the left, under the half destroyed wall, into another room filled with gaming machines.

In the far wall of the room he can see a stair leading to the next floor, he's about to climb when he notices something on the small kitchen to his left, an audio log.

It might be nothing, or it might be something, with a tap of his phone he plays it into his headpiece, knowing Glitch will be able to hear it as well.

_“When Iraq died I had nothing left, only Gramma. She had always looked out for me, always telling me how much of a damn fool I was for following my cuz everywhere, but she never understood that I had nothing else, without Iraq, without the Black Viceroys I am nothing._

_After the fam went down I tried to have a decent life... for her. Working at the burger place was awful, seeing the people who had once respected my cousin, respected me! Now ordering me around made me feel like a complete idiot!_

_And now Gramma is gone too! Dies in her sleep and left me here. I have nothing left, only this shitty job, on the rundown apartment I can't afford... fuck... I had to sell all of Gramma's stuff just to pay for another month of rent... a month!_

_Life is shit... Except... Someone contacted me._

_I don't know who they are, I just... They tell me... they tell me I am promising? That they expect much from me? What the fuck does that mean?_

_They said they can give me money, and power, everything I wish for, all I have to do is bring back the Black Viceroys. I will be the leader, the boss, I just... I just have to follow their orders, it won't be always, just once in a while they said..._

_How am I supposed to say no! It's what I have always wanted... If I bring back the fam, if I lead... I might be someone... I should... I should contact them back._

_..._

_What would Gramma say? You damn fool aha..ahahaha yeah, she would say just that”_

“Shit, Bedbug, you idiot, you should have stayed away from this life” he pocketed his phone, starting to climb up, through the collapsed floor of the next room.

“What was that?”  There was no one on the next room, crates and boxes fill most of the place, a quick inspection shows nothing of use, some liquor, canned food, a pantry of sorts. To the left there is another door.

“That was Bedbug, and old member of the Black Viceroys, Iraq's cousin”

“Shit, is he the one in charge now? Go figure, it stayed on the family” he walks into a long aisle, to his left is the entry to an empty room, or it had been empty before, he decides to check there first, he moves as quiet as possible, as he gets closer he can hear voices coming from inside, he bends down, ready to sprint behind cover if necessary. He sees two men smoking as he walks in, one reached for his gun, the other stood still, cigar halfway to his mouth, surprised from his arrival, a shot on the knee brought down the first man, the second one finally reacted trying to get his gun out, Aiden had taken aim by then, he went down with a shot in the head.

“No. There's no way bedbug would have been able to do this” the first man was on the floor, screaming in pain and holding his leg close to his chest, with a single hit of his baton to the head Aiden left him unconscious “he wasn't the best at his job back then, didn't even qualify as a real member of the fam, had no god damn idea what was going on right under his nose, just another thug being used as a distraction from their real business”

“You speak as if you knew him” he checked the bodies for extra ammo, they had nothing he could use on his silenced gun, with a sigh he stood up and walked out into the same aisle, trying to pick any sound indicating someone had heard the screams of the man.

“I did... needed his help back then” he hides behind a concrete divider when a man rushes out from the door at the end of the aisle, they're carrying an automatic gun, bad news.

“Oh god, you black mailed him didn't you?”

He doesn't reply, the man is getting closer, is not until he hears him asking for backup that Aiden jumps from behind cover, gun up, two shots bring down the man.

“Not exactly” he walks by the fallen body and ignores the open aisle to his right, there's nothing but a dead end there anyway “I needed to get close to the fam, had to verify by myself if Iraq was behind... something” he doesn’t feel like explaining his tragic back story, as Jordi would put it, to the Glitch “By the end I discovered the connection behind the Black Viceroys and Lucky Quinn's criminal empire. Bedbug... he was the easiest way to get in. When Iraq was dead and the gang disbanded, I told him to stay away from all this. I had hoped he would take the opportunity... I guess once used to this life it is hard to leave”

“You don't believe he's the one behind the return of the gang?”

“No, he was all bark and no bite. Boy didn't have a single bone on his body to become a criminal, even less the leader of a gang as big and dangerous as the Black Viceroys, and you heard that audio log, he said someone had contacted them. I wonder if he contacted them back, and who could they be”

“...I wonder the same”

At the end of the aisle is a door to the right, inside there is a small kitchen on the corner, cans of beer and empty pizza boxes littering the place, it looks more used that the previous rooms. He walks further and stops at the small TV on the other side of the room, under it, on the rickety table that looks about to give in, is another audio log.

“Well, this might have some answers” he clicks the play button on his phone after downloading the audio log and waits to hear what bedbug has to say this time.

_“I did it, I... fuck, I accepted. That lady, the... the one that answered the phone, she said that she had been waiting for my call, and that everything would be ready soon, they would contact me... I am still not sure, what if they are with the cops? Shit, what if this is all a ruse to get me in jail?... oh fuck I have to get some of the guys back, I need to convince them, but they have to be trustworthy, I want no weakling on my gang... fuck what a mess”_

“That was helpful” he agrees with the Glitch, seriously Bedbug can't you get into more details?

“At least is something, the lack of security might mean he has yet to convince more people to join. There were many loyal to Iraq because they respected his military background and what he taught them, I doubt many of them are willing to be bossed around by the younger useless cousin, after all, he is barely 20”

“What? He is just a kid”

“That’s the reason why I did not want him to come back to this kind of life”

He hears them as he gets closer to the stairs, people rushing down to meet him. Shit, he wasn't fast enough to stop the previous thug from calling backup. He jumps to hide behind one of the half demolished dividing walls mere seconds before the first guy jumps from the opening to the next floor. How many are there? He decides against using one of his scanners, the parts to craft them have become harder to obtain, instead risks a glance over the wall and sees 3 guys, automatic guns on their hands.

“Why are we here man, I was on a call with mah girl”

“Shut up, somethings wrong. I haven't heard anything from the guys downstairs in a while, we're just gonna go check on them”

Ok, ok he can do this, three men, three shots, no big deal. He takes a deep breath, once, twice.

Y _ou have this Aiden, you can do it, focus_. He steps from behind the wall, gun up, takes another breath breath, aims and shots, first guy goes down, he hits the back wall, the other two jump, turn to him and reach for their weapon, he aims and pulls the trigger, the guy on the left falls back, the last one is already pointing his gun at him, no time to doubt, aim, pull the trigger, and the guy falls with a grunt of pain.

“Are you ok man?” slowly he lowers the gun, adrenaline rushing on his ears, his hands are shaking now, no longer in need to keep a perfect aim, no longer on a life or death situation. He hates those.

“Peachy” He ignores the bodies and climbs up the stairs, this is it, the final floor. Would Bedbug be waiting on the last room? Is he even in the building? Anyway Aiden will find him, once he allowed the kid a second chance at life, he is not that stupid to let him out again, the Black Viceroys are going down, all of them.

Staying low he moves behind a table on the middle of the room, there was a camera behind himself he used to investigate the floor, just on the other side of the table is a guy, walking from side to side of the small space, he couldn't see a gun from here but that didn't mean the guy had none, there was another camera on the further wall, once he jumped to that feed he saw a man, sitting on top of another table, looking down at his phone,  there were no more cameras but he had already been able to see most of the room. Two guys, no threat.

He took aim and pulled the trigger, only for his gun to click empty.

“Crap”

“What? What's going on?” he hurried to hide again before the guy turned around.

“I'm out of ammo” he puts the gun back on the holster under his jacket, useless now. How had he been so stupid to don't pay attention to the number of shots he had taken, newbie mistake, and a costly one.

“What? But you have your other guns don't you? It's only 2 guys, you can get rid of them in no time” the weight of his sub machine gun should have been comforting, but on this moment he wouldn't even dream of using it.

“I cannot risk it, don't you understand, I have managed to get all this way without alerting anyone, what if I do as you say, use the gun, make a lot of noise, let whoever is left in the building know I am here. What if Bedbug decides to kill the girl?”

“Would he do that?”

“I have no fucking idea. I didn't believe him capable of coming back to this kind of life and look at how wrong I was”

“God damn it, well then what are you going to do?”

“I... I don't know”

“Wait, you're not planning on leaving are you?” shame crawled up his back and he turned away from the hole on the floor from where he had climbed up. Was he that much of a coward? That transparent that a complete stranger was capable of knowing he had been thinking of retreating?

“What other options I have?” the steps of the guy were driving him crazy, getting closer, too damn close before walking away. How is it that he had not been found out yet!

“We did not just went through all of that for you to bail at the last moment” he should have never modified his voice software, much easier to ignore texts that a voice on your ear. The worst thing is he didn't even need to hear the emotions on the voice to know how mad the Glitch was.

“Then what the fuck do you propose I do?”

“You want to go at this stealthy, I can help with that” why can't the guy just stay put on one place, is it really necessary for him to be walking up and down the room? There's nothing here to protect! Between the Glitch voice on his ear and the sound of that guy steps he could feel his anxiety levels rising up.

“Sorry, but I doubt a hacker will come in handy at this moment”

“Well tough luck, you have no other option”

“Fine. What do you have in mind exactly?”

“Do you have the hunting knife in you?”

“Yes” he took the knife out, it had been sharpened at the store, the blade shiny and dangerous.

“Then I need you to follow my instructions, would you be able to do that?”

The weight of the knife was comfortable on his hand. Can he trust them? No, no he can't, but at this point there was nothing to lose “Yes...” he finally replied after a too long moment of staring at the shiny blade on his hand “Just tell me what to do”

-

“Almost” The Glitch said on his ear, Aiden had connected to the cameras again, leaving his phone on this time, allowing the Glitch to see through his system. Aiden went over the instructions on his mind one last time, it sounded relatively easy “Now, go go go!”

_Cover their mouth, don't let them scream._

He stepped from behind his hiding spot, the gang member turned away from him. With one hand he covered his mouth, the thick leather of his glove protecting him from getting bit.

_Be quick about it. Do not think, you know how sharp the knife is, just press it from one ear to the other, mind your own hands._

He admired the way the blade shined under the fluorescent lights of the room as he brought it up and to the man's neck. With a quick move the sliced the neck from side to side, for a second he worried there had not been enough pressure to break the skin, but the warm feeling of the blood soaking his arms calmed him down.

_The body will shake don't let it go._

The man trashed around, hands flying up to his throat, trying to make the flow of blood stop, it was useless.

_As it stops moving, kneel down and carefully let it down on the floor, try and be as quiet as possible._

The strength left the man which each passing beat, Aiden knelled, bringing with him the body, it was heavier than expected, but somehow he managed to get it on the floor and behind the boxes without making any sound.

Just a few seconds was all it took to end this life.

It was different from how he is used to work. He had run some stealthy mission, with his silenced gun, and if necessary his baton. But this, this was a whole new level on stealth. A quick glance over the wall confirmed the last guy hadn't noticed anything, concentration still on his phone.

Just, who the heck was the Glitch? And how did they know how to do this? Is this what the Glitch had meant when they said, back on the weapons store, that they had used something similar to the blade?

“Hey, is everything ok? We still have to get rid of the other guy, don't space out”

“I'm not” he got as close to the open door as possible without alerting the last guy of his presence “Tell me when”

“Ok one sec... now”

There was not much difference from how this guy went down. A clean cut from ear to ear, blood dripping out of the open wound, hands trying to get away, to stop the bleeding, before the body stopped moving completely.

“How?” there was fear on the empty eyes of the body now lying on the floor, the blood covering most of his shirt.

“What?”

“You know what, This!” he motioned to the body on the floor.

“There's no time to explain, you should keep going” Later, he needs to remember to confront them later about this all, there's still so much he doesn't know.

He walks pass the body, down an aisle and through a demolished wall on the right. The secured door, with its electronic lock, was no problem at all, with a tap on his phone it opens into a larger room that the ones he had passed before. On the left wall some bookshelves and an improvised shooting range taking most of the space, on the right there were some desks, and another door with an electronic lock.

Before going through it he checked the room and found another audio log on one of the desks.

“Let's hear what you have to say this time Bedbug”

_“I managed to get a small group of people together, some of the guys from last year, they respect me, or at least I hope they do. We went back to the Rossi-Fremont building, a night after I got a call that everything was ready... I couldn't believe my eyes, crates were waiting for us on the top floor, filled to the brim with guns, ammo and military shit. It was enough for a small army!_

_I thought...This is it, this is the return of the Black Viceroys fam! We have a second go at it, and this time I am not gonna let it go to shit!_

_What a bunch of shit!_

_They called again and again, telling me to do stuff for them. I did not see anything wrong with it, they were easy targets, getting rid of some shady people, stealing from others, heck I was allowed to keep everything we found as long I did what they wanted! It seemed like a pretty neat deal._

_But this time... Oh god this time, a man contacted me... not the usual lady, some weird named guy? Oxtto? Something like that, he said he had a new job for us, something easy._

_Got a name, a face. He said, do whatever you want with her after, but make sure to get her alive. That girl... she wouldn't be much older than me. The information we got was as detailed as it had been with the previous hits. The time, place, and even what she was wearing!_

_When the guys got her back... God she was so scared, couldn't stop begging and crying, asking what we wanted with her._

_I had no idea. What would They want with this girl? She is just another kid from the neighborhood._

_We keep her locked in one of the rooms, she wouldn't shut up, my men started to ask 'Hey boss, what are you planning with that girl?' what was I supposed to tell them? Hours later he appeared, that man, said he needed to see the girl. I told my men to let him in, I was excited, this guy was one of Them, I knew it, and he was the reason why we were back in the biz._

_I greeted him at the top floor, he asked to see the girl alone, only you and me, he said. I was thrilled, here I was being treated like the boss._

_I brought him to the room with the girl, she was still crying, not as loud as before. I asked what does he wants with her and he... he said 'Nothing' before pulling out a gun from his jacket and shooting her in the head._

_No warning._

_Shit.... The blood, it was everywhere... her eyes... god those eyes, they stared at me, empty. I felt my knees give away and feel to the floor, throwing up everything I ate today._

_That man is cold, picked me up, shoved a handkerchief on my face, and told me to get myself together._

_'Get rid of the body, do whatever you want, we no longer need her'_

_Just like that, just like talking about the trash. He walked past me... I couldn't... I had no idea what to say._

_Before he left tho, he turned and said._

_'You have done well'_

_…_

_What the hell did I get myself into?”_

“That poor girl” He did not hear the Glitch, the only thing on his mind was the fact he had been late, again. He kicked the door open, moving through the rooms with rage and anger at the front of his mind. _God fucking damn it all!_

Bedbug was halfway rising from a chair when he found him at the back of the last room. Aiden did not notice the servers where gone, or that the guy was alone, he did not have time for that. Only a few steps separated him from the gang leader.

“Where is she?!” his voice loud and angry, glare drilling into Bedbug.

“What the hell...” recognition flashed on Bedbug's face and he took a step back “you... no man what the fuck are you doing here?!” He was scared, good, he should be.

“Where is she!” he roared, the Glitch was saying something in his ear that he ignored, all his attention on the piece of shit gangster in front of him.

“Shit no, no, stop man, stop, I don't... I”

“Where!” in a second he crossed the space separating him from the young man, pulling him by the neck of his t-shirt and pointing his MP-9mm at Bedbug's head.

“Dead! She's dead al'right, I dind't... fuck man, I didn't want this!” he was shaking, desperately trying to pry Aiden's hands off from his t-shirt.

“You should have thought about that before coming back to this life”

“No man I... I will do well I promise, this was a mistake... this was...” he raised his hands, eyes pleading, begging to be forgiven.

“And it will be your last” He took out the safety of the gun, Bedbug's eyes growing wide.

“No, no wait no, don't!” He trashed around, trying to get away, but Aiden was not letting him escape, not this time, not again “Stop, please I promise, please don't!”

“Sorry, I don't give second chances”

-

“Weren't you a bit too ruthless back there?”

He was back at his hotel room, blood and dirt already washed from his body. He should not have put back the ear piece after.

“What?”

“That kid, he looked really shaken, you should have-”

“I will not risk it” Bedbug had cried until the last moment when the bullet tore a hole on his head, it had been a mess, blood splashed everywhere “A year ago I trusted him to take the right decision and look what happened” he had abandoned the building after a quick search for anything of value, calling the police on his way out, they would make sure to capture anyone who might have escaped him “The world is better without people like him on it”

“What about you?” he fell on the bed, body aching, a small headache already forming “Would the world be better without people like you”

_Yes it would._ He did not say it out loud, instead asking one of the many questions on his mind.

“That last audio log. Just who could be that man Bedbug was talking about? There seems to be more behind this that what I first thought. Some kind of group maybe? A new crime syndicate on the city? What do you think?”

The Glitch took a moment too long to reply.

“I think... We shouldn't be wasting our time on that”

“Wasting?” his voice was filled with incredulity, the Glitch could not be really thinking that, did they?

“Look, there might be more to it, yes, but don't we have more important things to do? This was another dead end, we should just concentrate on the kidnappings”

“So what?” He glared at the ceiling, hand clenched tightly on the bed cover “Should we just ignore the fact that out there is some kind of group, people with the power to arm and control a gang like the Black Viceroys, able to plan a kidnapping with a level of detail rivaling Hollywood spy movies”

There was silence on the other side of the call and for a moment Aiden wished he knew just who the fuck the Glitch was, just to be able to track them down and punch them in the face.

“You have told me why you want my help to get into CtOs, and I agreed to help with the condition you helped me back, but there's something else isn't it? Something bigger you're hiding from me. How am I supposed to help you when you don’t confide in me what is going on?”

“It is better if you don't know”

_Like hell it is!_ That's the kind of bullshit reason people gave all the time, that really means nothing and he was not going to fly with it.

“Back in that building, I had no reason to trust you. I wanted to turn around, but you insisted I could do it. I had no reason to, but I trusted that you would not get me killed. Why can't you do the same?”

He was already reaching to tear out the earpiece when the reply finally came.

“A few years back, I was real deep in something dangerous, my life was quite literally at stake, and then someone helped me. I put my life in their hands, thought of them as my savior, and I thought I would never find someone as good as they”

He had not expected such an answer, but decided to let them talk, taking advantage of it and try and learn more of the Glitch.

“Turns out they were never my friends. From the first time we spoke it had all been planned. Get my trust so they could use me, I would not be able to deny them anything. And once they got what they wanted, when I brought them to what they had been looking for, they were ready to betray me. I became expendable”

“What happened when you found out?”

“I killed them” that's what he had thought, and yet it felt like a surprise anyways.

“This has nothing to do with you Aiden, I know deep down you're a good person, that's the main reason why I contacted you, but I won't trust in anyone blindly like I did back there”

_Why not?_ He wanted to ask, but even on his own mind it sounded stupid. Being used like that, lied to, manipulated, had it been himself he wouldn't trust in anyone again either.

“I do not want you to fight for me, that has never been my intention, all I ask is for you to get what I need from CtOS and then I'll leave you alone. I hope that you will never know what is really going on”

That was unfair, how could they expect him to just fucking do whatever they wanted without actually knowing anything? How different was it from what they had experienced before? Wasn't this basically being used?

“But my luck is not that big, there will come a time when you will come to know it all, and I hope... God I really hope you will not regret agreeing to help me”

It was all too much, and not nearly enough. It was a sad story, he'll give them that, but it lacked the details he really wanted to know about.

“ _One day I'll know_... that's all you have to say?”

“There's one thing more... My name is Desmond Miles”


	5. 01110100 01101111 01101111 01101100

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you start to wonder if this will be finished because I take too long to update I am here to tell you that it will, I cannot promise when but this is writen out of my everlasting love for Desmond Miles and my constant sadness over the fandom not paying enough attention to him. Also Aiden is a fun old man that I love lots as well.  
> I love how once Aiden starts to think he knows what's going on something new comes up that leaves him even more confused that when this whole mess started.

“Desmond Miles” Jordi was too calm for his liking, sitting with his legs crossed on the flimsy plastic chair, a yellow folder on his hands, lazily flipping through the pages. Aiden tried not to stare too much at the folder. He had asked the fixer to find whatever he could after the Glitch... no, after Desmond had shared his real name, needing to make sure it was not a lie to try and get his trust, he will not allow himself to be used... more than he already had.

They were in one the Jordi's hideouts, _completely unreachable,_ he had said when Aiden asked for his help, _No camera, no microphones, not even internet connection._ That's what Aiden wanted, he didn't need Desmond to know that he was investigating him, even if he probably expected it.

“You, my friend, should count yourself lucky, that name is not that common” Jordi looked up at him for a moment before staring at the pages once again, turning to the first one before continuing “No social security number, no registry of birth or school records found” That much he had expected, he himself had gotten rid of some of his records when he had become a hacker, not risking being easily identified or having his family in danger for being related to him “But, with a bit of digging, I got something. First this, a _Have you seen this man_ poster from a few years ago on the city of New York”

Aiden reached for the paper. It was old, a bit torn on the sides, but still relatively intact. He wondered how Jordi had managed to get his hands on it. The fixer's information network was something else.

The print was on black and white, grainy and faded from the pass of time, but it was clear enough to read.

DESMOND MILES

AGE: 25

HEIGHT: 6'

WEIGHT: 195LBS

BROWN HAIR

BROWN EYES

The face staring back at him was nothing special, the only thing that would get anyone’s attention was the scar running down from the side of his nose, through his lip, all the way to the chin on the right side of his face. Everything else of the man was plain, maybe on the attractive side, but Aiden had never been one to pay attention to that kind of thing.

LAST SEEN SEPT 1, 2012

NEAR WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK

WEARING WHITE HOODIE AND DARK JEANS

It had been quite a while since he had gone missing. Had Desmond been hiding all this time? Why?

“I tried contacting the person that put up the paper, but the phone listed at the bottom doesn't work anymore”

“Changed lines?”

“No” Jordi pulled some bills from the folder, tossing them on the table between themselves. “The owner just never paid the bills again, as if he had forgotten for months he had a phone, or had been unable to pay it” Missing, maybe dead. Could Desmond have done it? Tie any lose end on his disappearance?

“I kept looking on New York for any sign of a Desmond Miles, and found your boy at the Bad Weather night club on Brooklyn” Jordi handed him a promotional poster of the club. It claimed to have the best Shirley Temple, no, Templar? Of the city “Desmond seems to have been working there for a while, close to 9 years if the regular clients of the place can be trusted. From how they spoke of him seems that he was quite popular, good bartender, interesting conversation partner”

“Was anyone close to him?”

“Not really, boy kept his personal life as far away from work as possible” Paranoia? Safety? “No one ever heard of him taking any lady or man back home after closing hours, and they could not tell me what he did on his free time, he had some friends, but seems that they weren’t that close”

“And his home?”

Jordi pulled some photographs and spread them on the table. It was a small, outdated apartment building.

“The place is close to 40 years old, the owner couldn't remember shit of Desmond, too old to even remember her child's names, and the neighbors were no good, either they didn’t see much of the boy or simply ignored he lived there. His apartment is already rented by someone else and they tossed away anything without value when they moved in”

“Pity, it might have given us some clues of who he is”

Jordi nodded before putting down another paper on the table “The last thing I could find of Desmond was a purchase, a motorcycle, just mere days before he went missing”

Aiden looked at the picture and information printed on the page, it wasn't an extravagant model and the price wasn't that high, the kind of bike you get just because you want one.

“After that, complete silence” the fixer tossed the empty folder on the table and rested back on the chair.

Aiden picked up each paper and scanned them one last time before putting it all back inside the folder.

“So, aside from the fact that we now know Desmond can mix a martini, we have nothing” he looked up at Jordi, some of his annoyance might be showing because the fixer glared back and crossed his arms.

“Hey, don't look at me like that. I am as annoyed as you are. This is the first time I have problems finding data on someone and it doesn't make me happy” Jordi was basically pouting now.

Rolling his eyes Aiden bend down to put the folder on his bag. Sitting straight he rubbed his face and let out a sigh.

“And about that other thing I told you, what did you find?”

Jordi glared for a bit longer before groaning and leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped in front of his face “That, was a complete waste of my time”

“Really? The great Jordi Chin, the best fixer on Chicago couldn't find anything?”

“Oh shut it. You didn't really give me much to work with. Just some recording of a boy saying something about _Them_ ” Jordi said on a mocking tone and making quotation marks with his fingers “And that name, Oxtto gave back no results! I tried, ok, I asked around, pulled some connections, but did not find a single thing. There are just way too many possibilities, gangs, black market dealers, crime organizations, hacker groups and so on and on, it is just impossible with what you gave me to find just who _They_ might be, if they even exist”

“Oh they exist all right”

“How are you so sure?”

“Jordi, they had military grade gear lying around the place, good thing they didn't even know how to properly use it or I wouldn't be here right now, but still, how could a just reformed street gang get his hands on that kind of gear without external help?” Jordid didn't look that convinced so he keep talking, trying to explain “Iraq was the one with the contacts on the military, and after his death I doubt anyone keep those at hand, even less that boy Bedbug”

With a sigh Jordi sat back “Ok you might have a point, there might be someone else behind the scenes, and do you think it is worth it to keep investigating?”

“I do, you'll keep trying, right?” Aiden hoped the fixer would agree to continue lending him his help, without it everything would be too much for him to handle.

“Of course. I will not be outsmarted by anyone, but if you manage to get any new information send it my way. It would make things way easier”

“Sure”

There was a moment of silence between them until Jordi finally stood up and cracked his back.

“What are you going to do now?” He asked while starting to pick up some of the stuff lying around “Still going to look into the kidnappings? Between that, CtOS, Desmond and now this secret group thing you will spread yourself thin”

It was said on Jordi's usual uncaring note, but somehow Aiden felt that the fixer was worried, hadn't he said before it was because Aiden was an investment of sorts? Somehow it didn't felt like that, were they becoming something close to friends? That would be an interesting development he hadn't expected “I cannot just ignore it Jordi. The Black Viceroys turned out to be a dead end, but it doesn't mean I am just going to give up that easily, I just need to find a new clue”

“And what about Desmond?”

“What about him?” he did not intend it to come out as protective as it did.

“Well” for a second Jordi looked back at him before turning back to putting gun magazines inside a bag “Are you going to continue helping him? Look, I don't think he is that dangerous” The image of a body limp on the floor, blood oozing out of the open wound on its neck flashed on his mind and for a moment he felt the need to disagree with the Asian man, instead he just nodded and continued listening on silence “But he is hiding something, I know it, you know it. Boy is wrapped in such a thick cloak of mystery even I can't crack it. Do you think it is safe to continue working with him?”

“There is much he is not telling me that's true, and I don't trust him completely, but like you said, I don't think he is someone to worry about just yet. For now his main goal aligns with mine, get full access to CtOS, we have different reasons, I want so solve the kidnappings and prevent anything like that from happening again, he wants to retrieve some data from their servers, or so he told me. But think about it, if it turns out he is trying to control or use it, just like Lucky Quinn did, wouldn't it be the best case scenario for me to be there to stop him?”

“Yeah, we don't want another person using it to control the population of Chicago. Can you imagine? How can anyone think of using our personal information for their own benefit!” Aiden just gave him a blank stare when Jordi turned with a grin on his face, that was a lame joke and the fixer should be ashamed for even making it. Rolling his eyes Jordi zipped his bag and tossed it over his shoulder “Just be careful Aiden, fixers were already send your way and I don't think it will be the last time, someone out there wants you gone”

He was already looking into that, but he had more important things to worry about, and he hadn't given it as much attention as he should. He was not about to tell Jordi that “You have nothing to worry about”

With a shrug Jordi turned to leave, Aiden stood up to follow.

“It is really funny when you think about it” the fixer had stopped at the door, hand already on the knob.

“What?”

“A **kid** has been able to outsmart us, US!” Jordi was grinning again and Aiden smiled back.

“I hope it doesn't mean we're slipping at our old age”

The reaction was exactly what he had expected, the smile dropped from Jordi's face, replaced by a pout before the fixer stuck out his tongue at him before walking out “Talk for yourself grandpa, I am still young at heart”

-

It happened a few days after his meeting with Jordi. Aiden was on his way to pick up some hardware parts at the pawn shop when the screens on the street flickered to black before the usual DedSec faceless figure appeared.

Messages from Dedsec had become a normal occurrence now that they had been active after the return of Blume, the citizens had grown used to the repetitive messages of _We will free you_ and _You will never catch us_.

“Citizens of Chicago, haven't you had enough lies already. Day after day the corporations that rule our city have been feeding us lies to keep us in check, to make sure we don't fight back. Even the Vigilante, your supposed hero, has done their dirty work” Aiden looked up at this, a frown on his face.

“What the hell are they talking about” Desmond said through his ear piece.

“I have no idea” Aiden noticed some people had stopped as well, mild interest in what was happening now that their local hero had been mentioned “but I guess we are about to find out”

“We all know of the kidnappings that have been going on in our streets, we all feared being the next target, and just days ago we were told that the culprits had been dealt with, that Aiden Pearce had saved us”

The screen flickered and the faceless figure was replaced with a recording from one of the News channel, the reporter gave the note that there had been a fight on the Rossi-Fremont complex, and the bodies of supposed Black Viceroys members had been found on the upper levels. During the investigation, the police had found proof that the gang had ties to the kidnappings, at the end of the note the reporter has showed the recording from one of the security cameras from one of the neighboring buildings, on it Aiden could be seen walking out of the complex, it had been speculated that the Vigilante was the one to deal with the gang, once again keeping the city safe.

Aiden had seen those reports, had punched a wall when he heard the conclusion they had come to.

The Black Viceroys had nothing to do with the kidnappings, he knew that, as well as he knew that the real culprits where still out there, waiting to make their next hit, but there was nothing he could do to stop the news from speaking. The worst was that the people believed them, it was a good story, a hopeful story, and Chicago's citizens wanted to believe they were safe.

It wouldn't last.

“This is what you were told to believe, what you accepted as the truth, but it is a lie” the faceless figure had appeared back on screen, by now most people had stopped and where looking up at the screens “But you won't believe our words, no, you need to see by yourselves. Then **see** ”

What was DedSec planning? What could they show? Did they know something Aiden didn't? “Desmond, can you find out where they're streaming from? I need to record this”

“Maybe, but I don't promise you anything”

“Just try” he had his profiler out and set to record when the screen changed.

Two men could be seen carrying a body out of an alley and into a waiting Van, it was dark, probably late at night, and the only source of light came from the Van's headlights.

Seconds later gasps and curses could be heard from all the people around Aiden, he couldn't tear his eyes apart from the screen, mouth set on a tight line.

The video looped, one of the men walked in front of the van to get to the driver’s side, the light illuminated his clothes and there, on perfect view, was the Blume's logo printed on his shirt's pocket.

“Shit” Desmond hissed on his ear.

The video continued looping, slowing down when the logo appeared. People were typing furiously on their phones, by now all social media would be flooded with pictures and videos of this.

“We have shown you the truth, it is up to you what will happen next”

The feed was cut off, all screens returning to the usual programming.

“Tell me that you found where they're streaming from” Desmond was silent on his ear and Aiden let out a curse.

Groups of heated discussion were forming on the street, chatting and sharing what they had seen, he managed to catch some words whispered from person to person _“Blume did that?”_ how far had the streaming gone? Outside the Loop? To the Docks? All the way to Pawnee? _“All this time, they have been behind it all this time!”_ What was DedSec thinking, letting that kind of information get out like this would only bring more problems in the long run, where they really that stupid, that desperate to get in a fight with Blume? _“Fuckers! That’s what they are! DedSec was right!”_

“Desmond!”

“I am here no need to scream!” the high pitched feminine voice hurt his ears, he should probably start working on changing the voice as soon as he gets the time, but right now there were more pressing matters.

“What happened?”

“I did not catch them, shit, I was close but the feed cut off before I could find their location”

“Damn it” DedSec could have been streaming from anywhere in the city.

“How did they get their hands on that? Didn't you say the cameras were offline?”

Some people on the street had started to recognize him, pointing their phones at his face, screaming questions or accusations at him. He started to walk away, ignoring every camera and angry face. DedSec had it against him since last year, when he had prevented them from having full access to CtOS, was this their way of payback?

“They were offline, you saw it yourself”

“Then how?!”

“I don't know” and it was the worst part of it all, he had no idea.

There was only silence in reply, there was really nothing else to say. He keeps walking, no real route set on his mind.

As he walked without a real destination in mind he decided to check his social media and, as expected, there were already dozens of pictures and videos, the comments keep raising in numbers, people were enraged, they felt betrayed and demanded answers.

“How do we know it is one of the kidnappings?” Desmond finally spoke after a while.

Aiden stopped and looked up at one of the screens on the side of a building, on it one of the news channels was showing a recording of the video released by DedSec, that had been fast.

“It looks like one to me” he deadpanned, what kind of stupid question was that? How could Desmond, or anyone, think it was anything but a kidnapping?

“Smart ass, that's not what I mean. How do we know it is one of the kidnappings we know about? We have investigated what, six of them? What tells us those were all of them?”

“You think there had been more?”

“Why not? Why can't this be a recording of one before you even knew the kidnappings where happening?”

It was a valid point, and a possibility he had not thought of before. He went through what he knew of the kidnappings, what he had seen in the videos, it was all perfectly planned, but no plan would be that good without having some test runs. Could it be possible that there had been more before? The video might exist because it was one of the very first kidnappings, one where, whoever is behind them, did not have it all perfectly planned yet.

_If so, how many people could have been taken? For how long has this been going on? could Blume really be behind them? They had only come back a few weeks ago._

His thoughts were interrupted by Desmond “Are we going to look into this?”

With a final look at the screen he turned away and continued walking “Not yet”

“Why?”

“Blume won't just let this slide, they can't, the city wants answers. Let's wait and see what they have to say”

-

It had been maybe 5 hours after DedSec's message had been online when Blume finally took action.

“Most of you have seen the video released by DedSec this morning.” Charlotte Gardner, current Blume's CCO looked straight at the camera, the evening news' reporter sat next to her, a cordial smile on her face “Many of you have taken their side, believed in what you all saw. We, at Blume, are sad that you might doubt us. DedSec is a hacker group that has always been against us, this is nothing, but another of their plans to bring our company's reputation down”

Aiden looked at the ancient TV on his room at the Owl Motel, Desmond was silent on his ear while both paid attention to what Blume would do next.

“We know you have reasons to doubt our intents, what happened a year ago with Lucky Quinn is something that does not make us proud” Aiden had to give it to the woman, she was a great actress, if he didn't know better he would have almost believed the regret painted on her face “I am here to tell you we are not kidnappers. I'll prove to you that Blume will always be the best option to put your trust on. For that I would like you all to pay attention to what I am about to show you”

The video that had been released by DedSec started to play, the two men were seen coming out of the alley carrying a body, one walked around the Van to get to the driver’s seat and the headlights illuminated his shirt and the logo printed on it.

“What the hell”

The video paused and zoomed in to the front of the shirt, where one could see the Brewed Delight coffee shop logo printed on the shirt's pocket. The reporter looked surprised, eyes wide open, Charlotte, on the other hand, was calm and collected “Let's look at it one more time”

The recording started again, the same as before until the point where one could see the logo, this time Abstergo's, the video looped and once again the logo changed, a donuts franchise, the city's museum, plain stock clothing brand. It kept going like that, going through ten different logos before the feed went back to Charlotte and the reporter.

“It should not surprise you” she said, looking at the reporter with a smug smile on her face “We live on the era of never ending technological advances, we have seen and done things that 5 years ago seemed impossible.”

“Then this is?” the reported asked, trying to compose herself.

“Video manipulation, something that has existed for decades” Charlotte turned back to the camera, grin on her face, with a careless shrug she continued “We have to give DedSec points for creativity thought, it was really well done, but nothing a good media editor cannot do within a few hours"

The grin fell, all trace of the amicable facade falling down.

“We still have no idea how they managed to get this recording, if it even is a kidnapping at all. Is just as probable that the people we see on screen are DedSec members themselves playing a role, no matter what, Blume will be giving our full support to the authorities on finding who they are, to bring them to face justice”

Her glare softened, and a tentative smile appeared on her lips, amicable, safe, friendly, the perfect look to gain the people's trust “I hope this has helped to calm down everyone, to remind you that Blume is always there for you. Our main goal, from the start of our company, is to protect you and those you care for. Thank you”

“She's good” Desmond said sounding impressed, Aiden had to agree with the boy, there was a reason why she was the company CCO, Charlotte excelled at her job.

“Could it really be video manipulation? I mean by the same rules we could say that the real video is the one with Blume's logo and that they just deleted it. How can we be sure which one is the real one?”

Aiden dropped back on the bed, looking up at the yellowish light over it while the news continued playing on the background “We cannot even be sure it is a real kidnapping, she could be right and those men might be part of DedSec, it's not that farfetched”

“Then we are back to square one”

“I am not sure about that. I think there is something Blume is hiding”

“How so?”

He looked back at the television, the screen was divided, on one side the reporter continued talking while on the other the different videos were looping.

“I guess, their response was too well executed for the short amount of time, it has been what, 5 hours? 6 top. It just doesn't feel right”

“You think there's something else?”

“There's always something else with Blume”

“So what's our next step?”

“We go and pay a visit to Gardner's house, If we can get the original video we might be able to see if it is real or not” Before the News Channel went to commercials Charlotte turned to the camera, another amicable, and fake, smile on her face “I want to see how Blume's CCO is like when a camera is not pointed at her face”

-

Charlotte Gardner's house sat atop a small hill on the center of Parker Square residential zone. The main house was surrounded by a perfectly maintained garden rivaling in beauty to the botanical gardens up north of the district.

It was already dark when they arrived at the property, after having acquired the access to the CtOS tower on the district, from the street level Aiden could see the lights on, but couldn't make out any kind of movement from inside.

Desmond had tried to remotely access the security systems just to find out the house was connected to an independent server from CtOS, impossible to hack without a physical connection.

That wouldn't stop Aiden thought. The fence surrounding the property was low enough to climb, once on the other side he stayed crouched, waiting for any sound indicating he had been detected. When none came he hurried forward, keeping to the shadows, behind bushes and trees, waiting before taking any turn on his way up to the house.

The closer he got to the main building the more he noticed the lack of guards. Somehow the fact the security seemed to be pretty lax did not calm him as it should.

_Why is someone as important as the CCO of Blume so unprotected?_

Desmond was silent on his ear, annoyed by the fact he couldn't do much at the moment, without the access to the house, and by addition the security cameras, he was basically blind.

Aiden started to circle the house, far away enough from the lights pouring out from the floor to ceiling windows. He found the CtOS connection box on the south side of the building, close to the pool. It was in an open area in plain view, anyone walking pass the glass windows a few feet away would see him.

He would have to risk it.

Standing, with his back to the wall, next to the windows, he listened for any sound from inside, only once he was sure no one was on the adjacent room he crossed to where the connection box was.

A few seconds later Aiden and Desmond had full control of Gardner's house.

-

“I need to talk to you” Charlotte sat behind her desk on her personal office, a laptop open in front of her. She was on the phone, a frown on her face while she typed something on the computer.

“What is it girl?” Mary Stewart spoke from the other side of the line, according to the information Aiden could gather from hacking into the phone she was an old friend of Charlotte, they joined Blume around the same time.

“Are you alone? I can call later” with a final click she closed the laptop and pushed it away.

“What's wrong? Is it Dušan? I know that man is smart but god is he annoying”

“No, no, he is too busy trying to push forward his plan of getting CtOS on San Francisco to the higher ups” She turned around taking the papers that had started to pull out of the printer. She looked them over before putting them down on the desk and reclined back on the chair.

“Then what is it? I am alone, come on tell me”

“It's Abstergo and everything that happened after them” Desmond, who up to this point had been commenting on Charlotte's movements got strangely quiet at the mention of the company and Aiden had a second to wonder why before his attention went back to the conversation.

“I am afraid I don’t understand”

“You saw the news, didn't you?”

“Yeah the whole video thing with DedSec, what does that have to do with Abstergo?”

She stood up and started to walk around the room, stopping at the windows before finally speaking up.

“I am not supposed to tell you this” she looked back at the papers on the desk, then at the room in general, she seemed suspicious, almost as if she knew, or feared, someone was hearing “it is top secret, only know by a few, but I have known you for years, I can't think of anyone I trust more”

She stopped for another moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, when she started talking again there was something different in her stance, she looked confident and her voice came out clear and strong.

“No longer than an hour after the video got out, I got a call from Abstergo. They told me exactly what to say, planned the whole things from start to end, the interview on the news, everything I had to say, I don't even know how, but they also gave me the edited videos you saw. All of it in one hour”

“Why would Abstergo do that?”

A second of silence, another deep breath “Because they are the reason Blume is back from bankruptcy”

“What?!” the same question resonated on Aiden's mind, and from Desmond's sharp intake of breath it was obvious the boy had also been surprised by this new information.

“Remember how we sent a partnership proposal to Abstergo years ago when they had started to release their Helix console?” she waited until a sound of confirmation came from the phone before continuing “The research team thought their technology would be great mixed with our security software, and I admit the plan they had was amazing. But it never came to be, the Lucky Quinn incident and the truth of the Rose Washington's murder came to light and our company went bankrupt before we even started negotiations” she walked away from the windows, giving another glance at the papers.

“With my life coming apart around me I had forgotten about it all, then months later I got a call to let me know the company was coming back, and if I wanted there was a place for me on it” she laughed, no real mirth behind it “I didn't understand it back then, but I do now”

“They own us, is not a partnership, it never was, they bought us”  She got angrier with each word, spitting out the words and gesturing wildly with her free as she paced around the room “It might not be down on paper but that's the truth. They paid it all, said there was potential in us, that our combined companies would bring forward a new era. What a fucking joke! Our god damn CEO doesn't do anything without talking with Abstergo first”

“Are you sure?” Aiden could hear something off on Mary’s voice, it did not sound nearly as surprised as he would have expected, but Charlotte, as worked up as she was, did not notice.

“Of course I am sure! And that's not all, many of our newest employees were or are related to Abstergo one way or another? They have been slowly infiltrating our company! Just yesterday I found out the security personal on my house was contracted by them, I fired them all immediately”

_Well that explains the lack of guards in the property._

“Isn't that dangerous? What if something happens to you?”

Charlotte laughed as she sat down once again on her desk “I am more concerned of what Abstergo can do, they can't be trusted. Oh but the infiltration is not even the worst I have found”

“What could possibly be worse?”

Yet another glance at the papers, just what exactly was printed on them “No…” she started to pile up the papers and put them away on a folder “No, I am not getting you into this mess, the less you know the better”

“Awww come on, don't just leave me hanging!”

“Sorry girl” She smiled and closed her suitcase after putting the folder inside “Is for your own good. Don't worry, if everything goes according to plan you’ll know all about it soon”

“What, exactly, are you going to do?”

“I have a meeting with Melanie Lemay in an hour, she is leaving for Abstergo's Montreal HQ tomorrow morning, and I will not let her go without saying my part, after that I am bringing all I have found to the police”

“The police! What?”

“I have found some stuff that is sure to bring Abstergo down” She walked to the door, case secure under her arm  “I gave  my all to this company, Lucky Quinn is a mistake I will not let happen again, we will not be controlled, is time everyone remembers Blume is the one in charge of this city. We can influence lives, we have the whole city in our hands to do as we see fit, and I will not let a god damn Entertainment Company believe they are superior to us”

“Whatever you do, please be careful”

“When am I anything but careful?” she hanged up and reached for the door at the same time Aiden cut off the connection.

-

“What now?” From behind one of the bushes at the side of the house Aiden could see Charlotte leaving on one of her cars. He waited until he was back on the street before answering Desmond.

“Now…” with a tab on his profiler the pipe under the street, right in front of the house, exploded. With a grin he ran to one of the cars that had been forced to stop, pulling out the driver before racing to catch up with Charlotte “Now we follow her”

-

Aiden parked far away enough to don’t be seen by Charlotte. He took a look around at the multiple containers and machinery surrounding him, of all the places in the city Brandon Docks was probably one of the last ones where he expected to end at. Why would both of the most powerful women of the city be meeting in such a place?

He followed close by, keeping to the few shadows and making sure no one else took notice of him. Sometimes he would take a moment to look around, just to make sure there were still some cameras available so Desmond could follow them.

“Wait” Desmond said and Aiden immediately stopped, Charlotte turned around some containers up front and he could no longer see her “Climb up the containers on your left, I think she got were she wanted” he looked around one last time before starting to climb, the height of the containers didn’t make it easy and he was groaning and huffing on his way up the 3 storing units. He could clearly hear Desmond trying not to laugh on his ear and he felt like snapping at the guy, yeah he was old, sue him.

Once he got to the top he stayed belly down, crawling to the end of the container and looking down, from there he had a perfect view of Charlotte and, hopefully, no one would be able to see him.

Blume’s CCO stood up right under the lights of the street lamps, she looked around and then down at her phone, she was about to type something when some steps could be hear coming from the warehouse at her left.

“Melanie” Charlotte greeted, putting away her phone, the hold she had on her suitcase tightening.

Melanie Lemay, Abstergo’s current CCO, walked out into the light, a smile on her lips as she stopped to greet the other woman “Miss Gardner”

“Quite the dreadful place to meet, isn’t it?” Charlotte looked around at the darkness surrounding them.

“Sorry about that” Melanie looked down at her phone, Aiden hadn’t noticed she had it out, before tucking it away and giving her full attention to Charlotte “I had some unfinished business here to deal with before leaving, I would have suggested postponing the meeting but you were quite persistent on having it today. So, what can I help you with?”

“I won't beat around the bush. I know what Abstergo is doing”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh don't play stupid with me Melanie. I know your people have been infiltrating my company from the moment we started to work together. Did you think I wouldn't notice? People passing by the recruitment filters without a problem, people who hadn't been part of the list of candidates to begin with, people, who after a more detailed search, turned out to have affiliations with your company”

She got closer to Melanie, her hands shaking with the barely contained rage she felt “They have been climbing the company ladder so fast and so perfectly no one questioned it”

Once she was close enough she took out the folder from her suitcase “But that's not the biggest problem. Tell me Melanie, why is Abstergo kidnapping people?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about” Melanie’s voice was flat and controlled, she wasn’t glaring, but the smile had been erased from her lips.

“Sure you don't, is not as if each few weeks we received a request to find someone using CtOS. I didn't question it, too happy with the success of the company to really care, and I must admit I didn't want to see it, but it was yesterday's video that finally opened my eyes”

She opened the folder looking at the pages as she continued “It wasn't our company logo printed on the kidnappers shirts what surprised me, no, it was the face of the victim, the same face your people asked us to find just a few days ago!”

She tossed the papers in front of them, all the pages spreading around. All filled with pictures and information of different people.

“I went back and checked each and every face you have asked us to find and compared them to the faces of the kidnappings the police have investigated, every single one of them match”

Melanie looked down at the papers for a moment before bending down to start picking them up slowly as Charlotte continued talking.

“You have been using our company, our systems to do your dirty work. I have done my damn best to bring this company back just to let you ruin us once again. I am taking all this information to the police, by tomorrow morning everyone will know Abstergo's true face!”

Getting the last paper Melanie stood up, brushing away dirt from her knees “Oh Charlotte”

“What?!”

“I am greatly disappointed” If only Aiden could get a closer look at the pages Melanie was looking through “There was potential in you, a smart and powerful woman, bright and cunning, you would have made a great acquisition, if only you had stayed out of what doesn't concern you”

The papers were folded carefully, with her hands held behind her back and the public smile back on her face Melanie finally looked up at the other woman “You are right in one thing, we have been infiltrating your company, but it has been going on for way longer than you imagine”

“How long?”

“For as long as Blume exists” A new voice piped up.

Charlotte turned to where the voice had come from, surprise and worry on her face once she took a good look at the woman that walked out of the shadows from between two containers.

“Mary, what... What are you doing here?”

Mary Stewart, Charlotte's old friend and longtime member of Blume Corporation stood a few feet  away, she smiled before moving to Melanie's side, taking the pages from the red haired woman's extended hand before turning once again to look at her _friend_.

“You see Miss Gardner” Melanie started explaining, ignoring how Charlotte seemed unable to look away from her _friend_ “The moment Blume came to be, Abstergo saw real potential on it, but we considered it too risky to get involved that soon. Instead we sat back and let you do whatever you wanted”  Charlotte's hands were shaking, her eyes jumping between both women in front of her, she took an aborted step back “When Blume was established, when the first CtOS came online and its true power came to light, we decided it was time to get our hands on it”

“Bellwether is a thing of beauty, even if not the first one of its kind. For generations we have been doing something similar, if less sophisticated, but with Blume we finally had the necessary resources to make it bigger, better! Do you think the idea came to your people by luck?” She laughed, walking closer to Charlotte “We planted the seed of it on your people and it grew beautiful”

“For years we have been infiltrating Blume” slowly she started to walk around Charlotte, looking down at her “The man who brings you a cup of coffee every morning, the girl who prints the company's HR papers, your old friend who has been with you since you joined” The look of hurt and betrayal on Charlotte's face was brief, replaced by deep fear “People you thought you could trust, all of them are one of us”

Standing once again face to face Melanie smiled, softly, amicable, and oh so fake “Our mistake is that we got overconfident, we didn't care to hide ourselves as good as we did at the beginning, that's how you learned about us”

“You bitch!” She looked ready to try and run away, taking another shaky step back. From his advantage point Aiden noticed someone behind her, but there was nothing he could do.

“Your mistake was finding us”

The hit was fast and precise, Charlotte turned around ready to flee away just to find herself face to face to an older man. She tried to side step him, but he took hold of her hand, turning her around and kicking the back of her knees bringing her down.

“Melanie” the man nodded to the red headed woman, twisting Charlotte's hand when she tried to stand up, a gun to her head was enough incentive to stop her from trying anything funny.

“Otso” Aiden tried to profile the man but the scan came out empty. No name, no age or affiliation, whoever he was, he was dangerous.

“You will not get away with this! The police-” Otso shut her up by pushing the gun harder against her temple. Melanie simply stared down at her.

“We are the police” she did not seem disturbed by the appearance of the gun “We are the news, your doctors, your best seller authors. We are everywhere”

“Who are you?”

Her grin was sharp and vicious “We are the Templar Order”

The shoot rang loud, Charlotte's body slumped to the side, blood pouring out of the hole the bullet pierced on her head, and into the concrete flooring. Melanie took a step back to avoid the blood getting on her shoes and turned around pointing at the still bleeding body, speaking to the recently deceased woman's _friend_.

“Now Mary, would you please be a dear and get rid of her for me?”

“Of course Ma'am”

“And make sure to delete the recordings of the security cameras afterwards, we don't want anyone knowing what happened here”

Rolling up the sleeves of her shirt Mary gave a curt nod to the woman before bending down to drag Charlotte's body away and on the direction of the canal. Once she had turned around some containers and was out of sight the man put away his gun and turned to look down at the CCO.

“You're slipping Melanie”

Crossing her arms she glared up at him “This was a mistake that will not happen again Berg” Based on the way she spat the name there was some animosity between them.

_Otso Berg,_ Aiden made a mental note to investigate that name.

“The elders will not be happy to learn about this” he looked down at the trail of blood left behind.

“I'll deal with it. At least with her gone it should be easier to siege full control of the company”

“What about Dušan?”

She took a few seconds to think before replying “He still has his uses as Blume's CTO, I think it is better to keep him, for now”

“And if he starts to get out of hand?”

“We have ways of dealing with it” Berg walked over the blood, uncaring of any evidence that might be left behind “I do not enjoy you questioning my decisions Otso”

“I wouldn't have to do it if you did your job right” they were standing chest to chest now, glaring at each other.

“You're not perfect either, or do I need to remind you of the Black Viceroys?”

The man frowned “We had no use left of them”

“I beg to differ. A smoke screen is always useful, and they were quite good at taking the blame of the kidnappings”

“But it couldn't last, eventually someone would have started to wonder how did a street gang managed to orchestrate that kind of hits, and you know it”

“Perhaps...” she was the first one to look away.

“Something worries you”

“The vigilante” it looked as if it had pained her to get the words out “It might not have been the best idea to use him to get rid of those brats”

“We already had planted the idea that they were somehow related to the kidnappings, and he feel for it easily, it would have come to that end one way or another”

“Still, did you really have to let _him_ do it?”

“Are you scared Melanie?” He scoffed before continuing with a mocking tone “Of a hacker?” In a second Melanie went from being hunched down holding herself to glaring back at Otso a sneer on her face.

“He took down Garneau! I have all the reasons to worry about it! He is not a normal hacker and you know it. I am afraid he might be one of _them_ ”

“And Assassin... you cannot be serious”

“It is a possibility”

“Hardly, his actions might seem like it, but he disregards many of their tenets” Melanie did not seem convinced by his reasoning “I understand why you believe my decision was wrong, but you must admit that using the local hero to get rid of that gang, wrapping it all into the perfect cover for our operations, as well as leaving the citizens feeling satisfied and safe, was the best outcome possible”

She seemed to deflate at his reasoning, sighing and rubbing her hand down her face.

“Still... I am not risking it. Tomorrow morning I am leaving the city. Conveniently there are some developments on Montreal's HQ I need to review in person. You are leaving as well aren't you?”

“Indeed, one of _Their_ hideouts has been found in Japan, and I will be leading a team into it”

“In that case I wish you the best of luck Otso” She extended out her hand and Otso took it, holding his other hand over them, Melanie doing the same before giving a short shake.

“To you as well Melanie” He didn't sound sincere, just as she hadn't sound sincere while wishing him luck “May the father of understanding guide you”

“May the father of understanding guide you”


	6. 01100101 01101110 01100100

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, I am not dead!! Anyway apologies for taking this long.  
> Now a few things, if you have the time or feel like it feel free to go through previous chapters, I have taken the time to rewrite some stuff, make it easier to understand, as well as fixing some plot holes I had not noticed before.  
> To whoever is still interested in this story, thank you so much for taking the time to read it, and I hope you all enjoy it.  
> More chapters will come, I do not promise a date but I'll try my best not to let another 6 months to pass before an update.

“Blume mourns the loss of such a great woman. For years Charlotte lead the company, remaining loyal to our ideals even through bad times. The news of her murder have hit everyone in our company hard, we did not only lost an excellent spokeswoman, but a close and dear friend. Our trust is in the police forces, we are sure they'll be able to find the culprit and bring them to justice.”

“This was the statement given this morning by Blume's current CEO, just hours after the body of Charlotte Gardner was found floating on the canals of Brandon Docks. The police so far had refused to comment on the case, but a source had informed us that there seem to be little clues of where and who might be behind the murder of Blume's former CCO. The security company has started negotiations with the police to support in any way necessary with the investigation.”

“Now we go live to hear James Morse, Blume's newly appointed CCO.”

“Thank you to everyone who is present today. I know many of you wish to know more about Ms. Gardner incident, but I am not here to speak about that. The police is still working on the case, and I am sure they will provide you any new information.”

“Today I am here to speak about something completely different, please wait until the end to ask any question, what I am about to tell you had already been planned to be released today. It should have been Charlotte the one in front of you, it had been, after all, her who had worked restlessly to make this possible. And that is why I am respecting her wishes and going forward with it, even in the face of such a tragedy.”

“Blume is proud to make public its partnership with Abstergo Entertainment. This collaboration has been in negotiation for a few years. When Abstergo Entertainment released their first helix console, Blume knew there was great potential if we could collaborate with each other.”

“With both companies working close together we will bring to everyone the most realistic and entertaining games of this decade. With our pattern identification software, and Abstergo amazing game rendering and storytelling we will give you all the best gaming experience possible.”

“A story to love, realistic characters to identify with, experiences that will leave you at the end of your seat wanting to know how it ends. That's what we will work hard to accomplish.”

-

The room's single floor lamp was turned over to illuminate the map of Chicago projected on the wall. A printer was tossing page after page of information into the cluttered desk in the middle of the room, the News reporter voice filling the silence.

Aiden stood up from behind the desk and walked around it to stare at the map, a frown on his face and arms crossed. Everything related to the Black Viceroys and to the kidnappings was gone. All photos, notes and prints ripped off and tossed into the floor.

Taking one of the papers from the last batch of prints he walked to the left side of the map, Melanie Lemay’s face stared back at him as he tapped the CCO information underneath her picture. Next to it was a screenshot of Otso taken from the recording of the previous night, he should remember to thank Desmond about it, Aiden had been so concentrated on the conversation between Melanie and Otso he had forgotten about Mary and the order to delete all recordings she had been given.

He rolled his eyes at the announcement of Blume and Abstergo working together. Partnership? More like silent take over.

He looked over at the screen, and the man who had stepped up as CCO after Charlotte, there was no doubt on his mind that he was sent by Abstergo, by Melanie. For a second he considered the possibility of investigating him, but ultimately decided against it, there were bigger fishes to catch.

He took another page from the pile as the reporter droned on about the 'great' news for all game enthusiasts. Abstergo's logo was already tapped above the pictures, under those he tapped the mail he had obtained weeks ago in that suicidal mission for Jordi where he had first meet Desmond.

With a highlighter he went over the last line of the mail.

_“...If everything goes as planned, soon, no longer than a year, the government will no longer derive its authority from the people, but from us, their protectors. You must continue to move forward._

_We will send your next orders soon, stay in check._

**_May the Father of Understatement guide you._ ** _”_

When Melanie and Otso parted with those words the previous night he got the feeling that he had heard them before, only once he was back at his room at the Owl Motel sitting in front of his computer did he remember.

The same phrase had been used often on the mails he had retrieved from the recently appointed CEO of Chicago's News station. A picture of the man and the news' logo found their place next to the printed mails.

_“We are the police, we are the **news** , your doctors, your best seller authors. We are everywhere.”_

_“We are the **Templar Order.** ”_

Just how deep did Abstergo's power reach? Frowning he took a post-it and wrote on it what Melanie said, putting it next to her picture.

On TV the reporter talked about the recent win of the city's baseball team.

“This is a bit too film noir, don't you think?” The feminine voice was loud enough to be heard over the noise of the TV. Aiden hadn't removed the earpiece since he had arrived back on his hideout, the high pitched voice reminded him to look into modifying his software as soon as he had the time, to stop hearing it each time Desmond talked.

“I'm used to it.” Taking another post it he wrote down _Black Viceroys: Smoke screen(?)_ and put it next to Abstergo's logo. He took a moment to take a look at his work and couldn't keep down the fond smile forming on his face. There was something about the whole set up that made him feel nostalgic. It reminded him of easier times, of watching detective shows with his sister Nicole late at night when they were kids.

Shaking his head to disperse the memories he reached to take another piece of paper from his desk, taping it to the right side of the map.

**_Assassins_ **

_Maybe another organization? A war between two companies?_

He stared at the empty space on the Assassins' side and frowned, something was bugging him, an itch on the back of him mind telling him he was missing a piece of the puzzle. On a post it he wrote down a reminder to research more about the Templars and Assassins, before putting it up on the wall, hesitantly he added a reminder to ask Jordi for help.

And hadn't that been a surprise? Had you asked him a few months back if he would ever consider trusting the Fixer he would have laughed in your face and aimed his gun at your face to intimidate you into leaving, now he was forced to accept that somehow, and without even wanting it, he found himself trusting the man once again.

The hesitation came from the knowledge that no matter how much he trusted the man and respected his skills there was no guaranty that he will not turn his back on him.

The next page went above the map, right in the middle, his face staring back from the printed paper.

Just like with Lucky Quinn, once again he has found himself involved into something that has nothing to do with him, all thanks to his inability to stop getting his nose where he is not wanted.

Or maybe his luck just sucks.

At last he pinned a post it under his picture, a single name written and underlined.

The biggest unknown.

** Desmond Miles(?) **

Just where did he fit in all this?

-

“Thank you to everyone present today. We ask you to keep your questions for the end of the conference.”

The Chief of police stared ahead at the blinding lights of the cameras surrounding the podium. His face did not let out any clue of why he had called for this conference in such a short notice.

“First, we would like to extend our gratitude for the help Mr. Pearce, better know as The Vigilante, has done for the city during the last year, and inform him that said help is no longer needed.”

The noise of the reporters grew to a deafening level. Questions fired one after another without time left for an answer.

“With the fall of Blume last year,” he moves on, ignoring all questions “the city found itself unprotected and, as much of it hurts to admit, the police forces were not enough to maintain order, and we found ourselves forced to accept Mr. Pearce help.”

“This was never a permanent arrangement. If true Mr. Pearce did many good things for the city, after the attack on the Rossi Freemont complex a few weeks back, we can no longer ignore that some of his actions were illegal.”

“During said incident Mr. Pearce took a decision without consulting or informing anyone, a decision that led to the death of half a dozen people, people that he insists were guilty, but that up to this day have not been found to have any relation to the kidnappings incidents that have occurred on the city. Even if they turn out to be found guilty, the fact is that it is not Mr. Pearce place to deliver justice in any way.”

His next words are what will finally divide the city in two, but which effects will not be identified until it is too late.

“This is our first and last warning, if Mr. Pearce continues his activities as the Vigilante, we will be forced to take legal actions.”

“He will become what he has been fighting, a criminal.”

“Mr. Pearce, there are better ways to use your skills, the police, in agreement with the mayor, are willing to hire your services, if you wish to continue helping the city with the use of your skills, but you cannot under any circumstance continue acting as if you alone are above the law.”

With a click the television turned off.

“Well shit.” Desmond hissed seconds later, breaking the heavy silence on the room. Aiden could only sigh in exasperation.

Why couldn't his live be any easier?

-

“So you are no longer the local hero? How does that feels?” the glee on Jordi’s voice was impossible to ignore.

“This is not why I contacted you”

“Oh please, did you really expect me not to say anything?” He did not, doesn't mean he has to put up with this “Your face is in every news station around the city! Half the population wants your head on a spear and the other half wants you to run for Mayor. The chief of police himself made you a job offer! This is the most fun I have had in weeks!”

“Hurts to admit it, but he is not wrong, this is highly entertaining.” Desmond added, unhelpfully, from the earpiece. Aiden was not dignifying him with an answer.

“Jordi.” there was a warning on his voice for the fixer to start acting serious before Aiden would hang up.

“Fine, kill joy. What do you need?”

“There is someone I need you to investigate.”

“Is that so? Anything new happening on the city you are willing to share?”

“Nothing new, more like old history” Desmond scoffed on his ear, Aiden just rolled his eyes at the childish display “Have you heard of the Templar Order?”

“That crusade group thing right? Weren't they knights or something?”

“I still think this is a bad idea.” Desmond tried to interrupt but Aiden ignored him.

They already had this discussion earlier. When Aiden had brought up the idea of asking for Jordi's help Desmond had been against it immediately, stating that bringing any more people into their investigation would make things more complicated, Aiden had countered, pointing that having Jordi on it was necessary, after all, no one else on the city has the access to information and contacts the Fixer does.

If they want to know everything about the Templars and Assassin's, why they are showing up in Chicago now, and how they are related to Blume and Abstergo, they need all the help they can get. Desmond had reluctantly agreed at last.

“Not exactly. The Knights Templar were a Catholic military order, closely tied to the Crusades, they stopped being active around 1312, but I believe some criminal organization might be using that name in modern times.” He needed to word it right, Jordi's help was indispensable, but he did not need to know everything, there might be an unexpected friendship between them growing stronger with the passing of time, but the trust broke a year ago will take longer to rebuild.

“How recent?”

How long ago could they have infiltrated Abstergo, or had the company always been Templar? No, that made no sense, how could a secret society stay hidden for so long “15, 20 years,” was the best approximation he could come with “maybe longer, but I doubt it.”

Jordi remained quiet for a moment, when he next spoke up his voice was laced with incredulity “So let me get this clear, you want me to investigate a _secret_ _society_? One that might, or might not, be the same one that had been working on the Crusades 700 years ago?” It did sound kind of crazy when put that way.

“Can you do it or not?”

“Yes, yes, gosh calm down,” Good, that's what he had been waiting to hear “But why exactly are you looking into this? I thought you had other things to worry about, like those kidnappings, and your friendly, no longer anonymous, hacker, Desmond.”

“At least I am not the Glitch anymore, god that name was lame.”

“Shut it.” He snapped at Desmond, realizing too late that Jordi would have no way to know it was not meant for him.

“Hey!” the Fixer snapped back in indignation “That's no way to talk to someone when asking for their help!”

“Not you Jordi.” With a sigh he counted back from three, knowing what was to happen next.

“He's listening, isn't he?” It was not a question, as Aiden had expected, after all it was close to impossible to keep anything from Jordi.

Before he could try and salvage the situation there was a beep and a new voice joined the conversation “Of course I am, are you surprised?”

“Why do you sound like a girl?” Never let it be said that Jordi did not rise up to a challenge when presented with one.

“Why do you sound like a bitter old man? Oh wait, because you're one” Aiden could feel a headache forming.

“Oh god, he got sass. I do not need this in my life Aiden, I get enough sass from you” And this, this moment right here, was the reason why had not presented them to each other, or even wanted them to meet at all. One hard headed idiot at a time was more than enough for him.

“Can you two please behave.” his tone of warning feel in deaf ears.

“He started it!” Desmond accused immediately, _like a middle schooler_ , Aiden thought, while both 'mature adults' continued bickering.

“Oh now, listen here you kid-”

“Kid? I'm 26 years old!”

“Like I was saying, **kid.** ”

Finally feed up with it he banged his hand down on the desk, the resulting bang loud enough to shut up both of them “Desmond, quiet, we need his help so just don't. Jordi, don't even start, I so don't have time for this.”

“Then I suggest you stop wasting it and answer my question, why are you looking into this?”

With a long sigh of suffering, that he had not expected to use on anyone but his nephew and niece, he pulled up his files “I am sending you a video, it should explain everything.”

He forwarded an edited version of the recording of The Docks, cut just after the shot to Charlotte Gardner. No need to let Jordi know everything, just enough to allow him to do his job. He waited patiently while Jordi looked over it, hearing the hums and awes coming from Jordi's side of the call, trying to picture what moment he was seeing based on his reaction.

Minutes after the video was over Jordi spoke up, more calm and collected that he had been so far “So Abstergo did have some skeletons on their closet, oh man this is priceless.”

“Yes, but I can't just release it just yet. I need to know who are the Templars, why they're in the city.”

“Why? If you reveal this there will be some uproar, Abstergo will be the most affected, but Blume won't come unscathed. Isn't that a win win for you?”

“Perhaps, but without the information on the Templars we cannot be sure we will get rid of them completely. You heard Melanie, they are _everywhere_.” Aiden waited patiently, but as no reply came he spoke again “Will you do it?”

“Yeah, yeah.” To anyone else Jordi sounded distracted, but Aiden knew that at this moment the man was going through a mental list of people he could get information from “You're right, better to be safe than sorry. Is this all you need?”

“No. I also need you to investigate the Assassins.”

“Why? I know you are more than capable of getting rid of anyone that gets in your way.”

“Not a hit man you idiot.” he should count himself lucky Desmond had managed to remain silent this long “ **Assassins** , capital A.”

“What even is that?”

“I'm not sure, but-” before he could explain he got interrupted.

“We just need to know if there has been word of anyone under that name on the city recently.”

“And who, exactly, are these Assassins?” obvious curiosity could be heard on Jordi's voice, and that was dangerous.

“Just something mentioned on the files I retrieved weeks ago, you know, the same files you refused to read.” Not exactly the truth, none of the mails have referred to the Assassins, only someone or something as _“They”_ , it wasn't until after he went through Melanie and Otso's words that he started to consider the possibility of both things being one and the same.

“Ugh, I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass,” Aiden smiled, agreeing wholeheartedly with Jordi, that hadn't been the smartest move “Ok, I'll take a look into it.”

“Thank you Jordi”

“Hey, anything for an old friend”

Aiden laughed at the words, both men knew how false they were “And the right price” he added, because it had to be said.

“Oh, you know me so well” Jordi's laugh was the last thing heard before the call disconnected.

“I still don't understand why we need him”

With a shake of his head and an exasperated groan Aiden put down the phone.

-

In the back of his mind Aiden realized he should have seen it coming, but he had been so sure no one had known of his involvement that the recording revealed on the evening News 3 days later took him by surprise.

Desmond's steely silence while the feed played on the television indicated the boy hadn't expected it either.

On screen a car drove out of Charlotte's house. It changed to a different point of view, the car could be seen driving away, and seconds later a figure jumping over the garden fence, looking away from the camera the way the car had gone, holding something bright on its hand. A moment later the feed jumped and cut for a second as a steel pipe broke under the street, when the feed came back the same figure was pulling someone out of one of the cars that had stopped next to the explosion, taking over the car and driving away.

A third camera view showed the same scene from further down the road, as the car passed next to it the feed slowed down, in the driver's seat one could make out the unmistakable get-up of The Vigilante.

The recording looped a second time before it changed to the stunned faces of the news reporters. The silence lasted no longer than 2 seconds before the accusations and assumptions about the involvement of Aiden in Charlotte's demise started.

The reaction to the release was immediate.

A press conference was called the next morning by the police. The video was, at best, circumstantial evidence, but it there was no way to ignore that the Vigilante had been seen following Charlotte the day of her death.

The Chief of police informed that investigations would start immediately, first to corroborate the video authenticity, and, if proven to be real, then to bring Mr. Pearce for questioning.

The revelation of the partnership between the Police and Blume during the same conference was the only development Aiden had predicted.

Considering the recent peak of criminal activity around the city, Town Hall had decided that the best course of action was to, once again, work alongside Blume to integrate their security systems in the city.

A Blume representative explained how their software were now more secure than ever, and how there was no reason to fear for the personal information of the citizens to be stolen or used illegally by third parties.

Aiden and Desmond stared as the Chief of Police and Blume's CCO shake hands.

“How did they even have that feed?” the synthesized voice of Desmond made him finally tear his eyes away from the television screen and to his desk.

“Abstergo must have released it.” It was the only alternative he could think of, but it was quickly shut down by the younger man.

“Nah, doubt so. At least I want to believe that if they knew of our involvement they wouldn't have done something like _this_.”

“What do you mean by _this_?” Sitting down in front of his computer Aiden acted as if he hadn't noticed there had be no hesitation, no doubt, when Desmond talked about Abstergo, almost as if he knew _exactly_ how the company worked.

“Remember the whole Black Viceroys thing? Doesn't that sound more like their style?” His eyes snapped up, staring at the picture of Bedbug tapped to the side of the map up on the wall.

A smoke screen, that's what they had been for Abstergo. Used to hide the real culprit of the kidnappings, and, once it was obvious that the farce wouldn't hold long, discarded in such a way they would bring down The Vigilante with them. In short, “Manipulate both the players and events, to get the desired result.”

“Exactly! Just think about it. The Templar Order, a secret society, hiding for decades behind a company constantly in the spotlight like Abstergo. If something they know how to do is to remain a secret. Black mail, treason, manipulation, anything you can think that would help them remain in the shadows, you name it they have probably done it.” There it was once again, Desmond words hinted that he knew more about the company that what he was letting out “Or have you ever heard of them before?”

“No.” He hadn't even considered the probability of something like that existing.

Drug cartels, human trafficking, fixers, gangs, mafia, terrorists, all different levels of the underworld business, yet everyone knows they exist. You might not know who the boss is or where they are based, but there is no way to deny their existence.

For a secret society to remain in the low for so long, it sounds ridiculous.

“Then, do you really think they would do something like this? An unexpected anonymous reveal, without any kind of control, and without any benefit for them, it makes no sense!”

He had a point, there were so many other ways the company could have used such information, paths that would have been way more beneficial for them.

“You're right, had it be me I would have made a spectacle out of it. Blume steps forward as the ones to discover the recordings, release the video under their name, and use it to prove to everyone that CtOS is necessary by showing them that thanks to the system a crime has been resolved and the culprit apprehended.”

“That sounds more like it, doesn't it?”

It did, but there was something missing. Looking up once again at the wall covered in papers he slowly moved from one side to the other.

“If Abstergo doesn't win anything and neither does Blume, then...” He went once again over the papers, a theory taking form on his mind.

“What?” Aiden didn't answer, looking a third time at the information displayed on the wall.

Black Viceroys, Abstergo, the Templar Oder, Blume, CtOS, the Assassins, Desmond, Himself... He had been right, something is missing.

“I might have an idea who is behind this,” he looked down at his hands, thoughts flying from one to another, linking everything together.

“Who?”

“DedSec”

“The hacker group?” Turns out he hadn't been the only one to forget about them.

“Blume is back in business, CtOS is once again in control of every security system in the city. Can you think of anyone else aside from DedSec that would have the skills and resources to infiltrate their servers?”

“Shit” Desmond hissed a moment later, probably making the same connections as he did.

“What I cannot understand is the reason behind it, you talked about benefit but nothing of how that video was released gains them anything. Then again I cannot say I would be surprised if they didn't have any plan in mind while releasing it.” With a grin on his face he relaxed back in the chair, arms crossed and head throw back to let out a short laugh “This is exactly the kind of reckless actions they would take.”

“Reckless is not exactly how we would put it Mr. Pearce.” Startled by the unknown voice he sat up immediately, turning to look at his computer screen. On it multiple windows had opened, in each one a shadowed figure sat staring back at him.

“What the hell.” Desmond voice came from the earpiece Aiden was wearing, mentally he approved of the boys quick thinking. They had no way to know if DedSec knew of him, better not to risk letting the secret out. “How did they even manage to get in your system?”

“The council of the Daves.” He finally said, as greeting. “Never thought you would risk contacting me directly.”

“We are not here to fight,” he gave them an incredulous look that was ignored “We have an offer for you.” It took him a second to process what had been said. They couldn't be serious? Just what are they planning now? He needs to think of something and fast, whatever their plan is this time, it is not good if they were willing to offer _him_ something.

“I thought DedSec had no use left for me? After all, you have been quite busy destroying my reputation.” He looked pointedly at the TV, where the news continued to play the muted, before sitting straighter and looking back at his computer. Making sure it would not call anyone’s attention he pulled out from his jacket his profiler, keeping it under the desk and out of view. DedSec had managed to catch him by surprise, but in their haste they had made a grave mistake. “What I don't understand is why give the information to the news for free.  No hidden message, no taunts against Blume, no proclamation of your _good_ intentions. That's not DedSec's style.”

“We only wanted to give to the people what they want.” Without taking his eyes out of the screen he typed a short message to Desmond, explaining his plan. A few seconds later a confirmation came through his earpiece.

Now to keep them busy.

“Since when do any of you care about the citizens of Chicago? All I have ever seen you do is fight for yourselves and your _ideals._ ” The last word was spit out, making it clear what he thought of said ideals.

“We have always cared about the people!” Screamed one of the figures in indignation. “We _know_ CtOS will be the downfall of Chicago! It means the end of our freedom! And we'll do anything to prevent it!”

They were pretty words he'll give them that, but they were worthless when your actions couldn't back them up.

“Yet you are helping on the murder investigation of Abstergo's CCO, Charlotte Gardner, even when everyone knows they're working with Blume, your supposed _greatest enemy_.” He felt like the air quotes were a nice touch. Going by the silence that followed, none of the Daves agreed.

“You are not seeing the whole picture Pearce.” Someone else spoke up, and the figure who seconds ago had been enraged seemed to regain their composure and sat back down “We are aware of the partnership between Blume and Abstergo, what you don't realize is that helping Abstergo will allow us to get close enough to CtOS.”

“When we are done with them,” Another voice added, making him sigh, he could only hope they would not start to end each other sentences “everyone will be forced to accept that we were always right.”

“You don't know what you're messing with.” And that was the main problem with them, always rushing into things without the whole story as soon as Blume is mentioned, not that he expected them to care for his warning.

“It is you who don't seem to understand.”

“You have no high ground to stand on Pearce! Or do we need to remind you that you once denied us the access to CtOS, we could have prevented everything that is happening in the city right now if you had not intervened back then!”

Other Daves were nodding in agreement, and before it would dissolve down into a screaming fight another Dave stood up, making everyone else quiet down.

“That is in the past, we cannot change what has already happened.”

“What we can do it plan for the future” someone else said, and now it looked like they were back in track.

“We have come with a compromise Mr. Pearce, something that will, as you said, benefit everyone involved.”

“And what would it be?” he had not been ready for the answer.

“Join us.”

The sound of his chair scrapping as he stood up was the only thing his mind could process at the moment, as he stared in disbelief at the Daves. Had they just said that? Did they really believe he would join them?

Either they didn’t notice his surprise or planned on using it somehow, because they continued without missing a beat.

“Together, we will be able to clean the city of the filth that fills our streets.”

“Isn't that what you are always fighting for?” Shaking his head he looked down, his face on his hands, hiding the grin from the council. _Oh boy, this is priceless._

“You keep talking as if you know me, but you really don't. I once refused your offer, what makes you think that I have changed my mind?”

“Oh but we don't need you to do that.” And their tone managed to wipe the grin from his lips. Something wasn’t right.

“We only need you to see this.”

A window opened up, blocking everything else on screen. Aiden felt his heartbeat rise up and his hands start to shake once he recognized who was on screen.

A blonde woman stood up on a small kitchen, trees and a wooden fence could be seen through the window above the stove. Behind her a young boy sat on a small table, pencil in hand, a notebook open in front of him.

_Jason has grown up so much in only one year._

Aiden couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen. He thought after a year of not seeing his family he had accepted that he would never be able to do so again and yet the pain and longing that hit him was enough to take his breath away.

On screen Nicole turned around, her lips moving but nothing could be heard, and what a shame that was, he would give almost anything to hear his sister’s voice. Jason laughed at whatever his mother had said and Aiden had to close his eyes to keep from breaking down in front of the council.

 “How did you get this?” He managed to get out between his gritted teeth. There is no way he'll let them see just how affected he was by this.

“DedSec is no longer bound to Chicago.”

“We knew you would not come peacefully, so we were forced to act accordingly.”

“The truth is, without you, without your knowledge and your public approval. It would be close to impossible to achieve our goals.”

“Even if it pains us to admit it, we need you.”

“They're a lovely family,” The video zoomed on his sister’s smiling face, panning to Jason’s grin, “it would be such a shame if something were to happen to them wouldn't it?”

He’ll make sure to burn DedSec to the ground.

“Join us Mr. Pearce, and we promise you nothing will happen to your family.”

He was seconds away from cursing them and their fucked up group when Desmond spoke up on his earpiece.

“Accept.” Snapping his mouth shut he reared back, uselessly glaring at the screen, now more than ever he wished he knew just where Desmond was, just to go and beat some sense into him.

How could he even suggest him to accept _this_?

“God damn it old man, don’t ruin the plan.” Plan? Shit, right, the plan. He had almost let his emotions ruin everything. “Keep them talking, make them believe you are on their side.”

Taking deep breaths he forced his hands to stop shaking.

“Just a little longer.” Right, just a few minutes more.

“They will be left alone.” He demanded. When he opened his eyes the feed was nowhere on screen, replaced by the Daves once again.

“They will.” One of them quickly agreed. And he could almost feel their incredulity at how fast he had agreed.

That was dangerous. He needed them to believe he was considering it.

“And Abstergo?”

“A stepping stone, once we are done with Blume we will cut all ties with them. They won't know of your involvement.”

If only they knew. Blume was no longer their biggest problem, but he will not be the one to tell them that.

“What about the police?” He couldn’t help himself from looking at the clock on the corner of the screen. _Just a bit longer._

“If you're on our side we have no reason to continue dragging your reputation through the mud, it would be counterproductive for our needs.”

“It would take just one second to show the video was a fake, and prove your innocence.”

He remained quiet for a while, making as if he was thinking of anything else he might want.

“You will not intervene with my personal contracts.” Was the best he could come up with.

 “We can agree with that.” All of the Daves nodded in agreement.

“Does it mean you'll accept?”

“What other option do I have?” He didn’t need to fake the anger that slipped in between his words “Becoming the Vigilante, fighting Lucky Quinn, revealing Blume true face, all of it started because of my family, they will always come first.”

“Excellent!”

“We knew you would see reason.”

“Do not worry Mr. Pearce, you will not regret this.”

All of them disconnected shortly after, probably worried he would go back in his decision if given the time.

Sitting down once again he waited ten minutes more, just to be safe, before talking “Desmond? Did you get it?”

As answer multiple windows popped up.

“Something really funny I have learned about the internet.”

Different men could be seen sitting in front of the camera, grins on their faces, some of them cheering out loud.

“When you are covered by the protection anonymity provides, you feel strong enough to do stuff you wouldn't even consider doing in your day to day life.”

At the bottom of each feed, information started to scroll up. Name, age, relationship status, bank accounts, hobbies, none it would call anyone’s attention.

They were plain, boring, simple men.

“There is no fear of the consequences of your actions, you are in invincible.”

The information flickered, replaced for different names, different backgrounds.

Criminal charges, fraudulent bank movements, dubious content found on their computers, proof of partnership with a certain hacker group.

“But take away that protection and everything you feared is suddenly too real.”

The information kept showing up to the point it was hard to see the men behind the words.

“Well would you look at that, seems that the Daves aren’t as smart as they think they are, right? I wonder if anyone would be interested on seeing all of the information I retrieved from their computers.”

The mischief on Desmond’s voice was contagious and Aiden found himself grinning back at the screen.

DedSec had been right on something, it only takes a second to prove someone's innocence. It takes just as long to do the contrary.

-

“This afternoon was released, by an anonymous source, the faces of some of the men behind DedSec, the biggest hacker group on the city. Aside from their involvement with the Hacker group the release also included an extensive list of criminal charges against each of them.

“It had been confirmed by the police, with Blume’s help, that all the information is correct, and that these men are in fact the leaders of DedSec. Just hours after the release the police was able to apprehend most of them in their houses, searches continue for those who managed to escape.”

“We are not sure how the hacker group will be affected now that their apparent leaders are gone, but we are thankful to whoever released the information for helping bringing these criminals to face justice.”

-

Even if he wanted to believe that DedSec was gone that wouldn't be true for long, the group was formed, not because of Blume or CtOS, it was born years before, from the wish of freedom of expression, just as many other groups like it before, CtOS gave them a clear purpose, an objective, but it wasn't their only one.

It will take time, but eventually the hacker group will find a way to continue their operations even without their leaders. Especially when one considered the many branches of the group that had been showing up all around the states, so far removed from the original group that it wouldn't surprise him if they had never once heard about the Daves and their supposed leadership of the group.

Those remote groups will be the ones to bring back DedSec, Aiden had no doubt about it. He can only hope whatever the route the group takes it will be for the benefit of the people, and not for personal gain, as the council had been doing.

But he will worry about that later.

The call was picked up at the second ring, and there was a moment of awkward silence before Aiden found the strength to speak.

“Nicole?”

“Aiden? It has been so long, how are you?” His sister did not sound all that happy to hear him, he couldn't really blame her for this, considering how they had parted ways a year ago. Aiden could never forget the way she had looked at him as she left the city, with only her son and whatever she had the time to pack in a hurry, fleeing from the men send by Quinn, who wanted to use them as leverage against Aiden.

No way to fault her from the cold tone on her voice.

“Nicole I need you to stay calm.”

“What did you do?” she hissed the words out, half anger half worry, mixed perfectly with that tone of disappointment only a mother could use. He hoped Jason wasn't on the same room, it would only complicate things.

“Something happened, I cannot explain it right now, but someone has found out where you are living and they know you are related to me. You are not safe anymore, I need you to take Jason and get out of there, at least until I can fix everything.”

The silence that came made him tense, in front of him the recording done by Dedsec continued to loop on screen. When a reply finally came it was not what he had expected.

“No, Aiden.” she sounded tired, annoyed perhaps, but there was no time to waste, he needed her to understand.

“Nicole this is not the time-”

“It is never the time with you!" there it was, the anger he had been expecting since the call connected "I am tired of dealing with this! With you!”

He had been shot at, hit by cars and tortured for information, but it was nothing, _nothing_ , compared to the pain that came with the knowledge that his own sister was tired of him “I am trying to protect you.” Was his poor attempt at making her understand, but it sounded weak, even to his own ears.

“I wouldn't need protection if it wasn't for you." and wasn't that the truth? If Aiden had never chosen this path on his life, if he had tried to be a normal law abiding citizen, nothing of this would be happening, his sister wouldn't need to hide, he could have been the uncle Jason needed, and Lena, his niece, she would still be alive.

"Aiden I love you, you know I do. You're my brother and will always have a place on my heart, but I can't do this anymore. Being related to you, it is dangerous for my family.”

“I know.” And maybe there was something on his voice, pain, regret, guilt, or all of them, that let Nicole know exactly what was going through his mind, because she hurried to reassure him.

“No, Aiden, god no, you know that what happened with Lena is not your fault" But how could it not be? "I have never blamed you for it, never. I hope one day you'll stop blaming yourself, but I have to think of Jason. The people that want to harm you, they will not hesitate to use us to get to you, and I cannot allow that.” _Not again_ was left unsaid, but Aiden could hear it clear and loud.

“I won't let them.”

“Please don't... don't make promises you can't keep. Don't try to talk me out of this. "

He stayed silent, trying to think of something to say that would make her trust in him, but there was nothing. Because, even if he didn’t want to admit it, she was right, he was dangerous.

"You would never want to see us hurt right?” She asked, and he didn’t take even a second to answer.

“I would hate that.”

“I know you would, and I would hate to hurt you as well, that's why I have to do this, you know I have to. I am sorry Aiden but for my son, for you, I need you to forget we exist. Don't contact us ever again, don't look for us. I will look for somewhere else to live, a fresh start far away from you, from our old life, and you will do the same you have always done, survive. I cannot begin to understand why you do what you do, but you must be doing something right because I have meet people who sing your praises, you have no idea how many people think of you as a hero, so just, keep doing what you do Aiden, keep being the great man you have always been.”

“I am sorry Nicole.” for Lena's death, for Jason's silence, for forcing her to push him away, for breaking what was left of their family.

“Me too Aiden."

The sound of the call disconnecting felt too much like someone ripping his heart out and letting the wound open to bleed. He buried his head on his hands, shoulder shaking, trying to contain the pain and guilt slowly consuming him.

“Hey.” Desmond's voice was soft and hesitant, and briefly Aiden wondered if he had added a volume modulator in his software that would allow it to sound like that, hesitant, cautious, it didn't fit the chirpy voice of the receptionist he had used as a base.

“Shut it.”

“I just-”

“Don't.” Speaking was the last thing he wanted to do right now. “Just, leave me alone.”

Silence, and then, just as softly as before.

“For what is worth I am sorry.”

Lowering his hands he stared at his phone, at the picture of Nicole on his contacts list.

He stayed like that for a few seconds more before all the pain and guilt were replaced with anger burning so hot he could feel it physically hurting him.

Anger at himself, at the world, at everything and everyone that had taken part on leading him to this moment. He doesn’t know when he ripped off the ear piece, or tossed it to the other side of the room. Taking the first thing he could reach he threw it on the same direction, not caring if it hit its mark or not.

The bedside lamp crashed against the wall, the sound loud enough to wake up his neighbor who started to scream at him to keep it down, but Aiden didn't care. Falling backwards into the bed he stared up at the cracked ceiling.

“I know.” He said at last, knowing that the earpiece was far away enough there was no way Desmond could have heard him.

-

_“Are you scared Melanie? Of a hacker?”_

_“He took down Garneau! I have all the reasons to worry about it! He is not a normal hacker and you know it... I am afraid he might be one of them”_

_“And Assassin... you cannot be serious”_

[Pause] [Rewind] [Play]

_“He took down Garneau! I have all the reasons to worry about it! He is not a normal hacker and you know it.”_

[Pause] [Rewind] [Play]

_“He took down Garneau! I have all the reasons to worry-”_

[Pause] [Rewind] [Play]

_“He took down Garneau!”_

[Pause] [Rewind]

Melanie's face stared back at him mid speech from the paused recording.

On his mind were mixing memories of his younger years, of people who had left long ago. Missing, dead, kidnapped.

One of them that rang louder than the other catching his attention.

An older fixer, a kind of mentor for the younger and reckless Aiden, giving him a piece of advice, a rule given shortly before he disappeared, ingrained on his brain after witnessing many fixers lives ruined for ignoring it.

The one rule he had never dared to break.

**Never leave behind any clue, don't let anyone know in what contracts you have been involved.**

[Play]

_“He took down Garneau!”_

[Pause]

How Melanie had come to know it had been him the one that killed Oliver Garneau?


End file.
